Police in southwest China said early Thursday they had shot dead a man who held a woman passenger hostage at knifepoint on a bus and asked for guns, ammunition and money.

A man with a 30-centimeter-long knife grabbed the woman seated in front of him on the No. 20 bus in Guiyang City, capital of Guizhou Province, around 6:20 PM on Wednesday, the city police said at a news briefing early on Thursday.

The driver and passengers immediately alerted police, who tried to persuade the man to let the woman go, but failed. The man demanded two guns, 500 bullets and one million yuan (US$145,000), said a police spokesman.

At around 8 p.m., the suspect seemed to lose patience and became agitated. Police saw him injure the woman's neck with the knife and shot him at 8:42 PM and rescued the hostage, said the spokesman.

The man was sent to hospital for emergency treatment, but died despite doctors' efforts. The woman was also sent to a hospital for observation.

The identity of the man remains unknown. Police are still investigating the incident.

(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2008)