Blast at Beijing airport terminal

[Lite Beer]

Blast at Beijing airport terminal

There has been an explosion at Beijing Capital International Airport's Terminal 3, with a man in a wheelchair apparently detonating a device, BBC reported.

Photos posted on China's Weibo microblogging site showed a dark-haired man waving a white package in the air before the blast.

Later images showed the wheelchair on its side with officials treating a man on the floor. His condition was unclear. Smoke spread through the terminal after the blast.

The device went off shortly before 18:30 (10:30 GMT) near one of the terminal exits.

Xinhua news agency showed several medical workers providing emergency treatment, with police officers also at the scene.

-- The Nation 2013-07-20

[Scott]

I thought China was a little less susceptible to these things.

[bunnydrops]

Wow, I would think. When I went though there, there were more security than passengers. The only airport I have been to that photographed passengers that were only passing though.

[antfish]

its already cleaned up.

[annabel]

I was there to and fro just a couple of months ago and was not photographed....??? In Bangkok I was, yes, on leaving and on return .. but no, ...not in Beijing ?? And no I do not agree that there were more security than passengers... not at all !!!............ Mind you I was In Transit both ways ... and never left the airport so that could make the difference

Wow, I would think. When I went though there, there were more security than passengers. The only airport I have been to that photographed passengers that were only passing though.

Edited July 20, 2013 by annabel

[NeverSure]

(Reuters) - A man in a wheelchair detonated a home-made explosive in Beijing airport on Saturday, injuring himself and sending smoke billowing through the exit area of the international arrivals section of Terminal 3.

There were no other injuries and operations were normal after the blast, the airport said on its microblog.

China's official Xinhua news agency said the man, 34-year-old Ji Zhongxing from the eastern province of Shandong, had detonated the loud device after being prevented from handing out leaflets that drew attention to unspecified complaints.

More...

[ryanwiley]

I thought China was a little less susceptible to these things.

China is a time bomb waiting to explode. The entire northwest part of the country are not Chinese. They don't speak Chinese. They don't eat Chinese food. They HATE the chinese. They have ever since the red army went into their country and took it from them. .....just look up "Xinjiang needle stabbings" in Google.

Then you have Tibet. We all know how they feel about being part of China.

Then there is Taiwan.

Then Inner Mongolia, who are technically part of China but have their own autonomous government.

Then you have all the incredibly poor people in rural areas watching the people in Shanghai and Beijing getting rich.

I expect this kind of thing to happen more and more in China.

[Lite Beer]

Beijing Airport bomb a personal protest
AFP
BEIJING, July 20, 2013 (AFP) - A man in a wheelchair ignited a home-made explosive device at Beijing's international airport Saturday, state media reported, injuring himself but no others.

The man, identified as Ji Zhongxing from Shandong province, aged 34, was being treated for injuries, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, citing police.

The explosion, which occurred in the airport's Terminal 3, caused momentary panic and confusion at one of the world's busiest airports, although no one else was hurt, Xinhua said.

Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, a Chinese foreign policy specialist at the International Crisis Group think-tank who was inside the arrivals hall at the time, described on Twitter seeing a "huge explosion followed by panic, smoke and dust".

Pictures she posted online showed a female Chinese police officer waving crowds back as dense white smoke drifted across the terminal.

In a separate tweet she said the blast had created "lots of excitement" and that police had become angry and "shouted crowds back and told everyone to leave".

A Chinese microblogger, under the username Ruhuaerdaye who had come to the airport to pick up his wife, posted: "Right now this place is full of armed police and firefighters", adding he could see "one person lying on the floor covered in white cloth, nearby is a wheelchair toppled over and a suitcase".

Another microblogger at the airport, Chihewanlezaibeijin, posted that someone holding a bomb "shouted for a while but nobody paid attention, until he opened up a white plastic cover over the bomb. Only after the people around him realised something was wrong did the security guards rush over. The security guards only said two words before the bomb went off".

On social media and Chinese websites a photo – purportedly taken just before the explosion occurred – showed a man in a peach coloured shirt sitting in a wheelchair with his hands in the air holding a white package.

Some Chinese news and social media sites showed what they said was a blog written by the man police identified as Ji.

In it, Ji says he formerly worked as a motorcycle driver ferrying passengers in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan and was severely beaten by police staff in 2005. The veracity of the purported blog could not immediately be verified.

Xinhua said the blast came at about 6:24 pm (1024 GMT), adding that police were investigating.

According to the preliminary investigation, police said that the Ji set off the device immediately after being obstructed from releasing leaflets, Xinhua said.

There were no immediate details on the content of the leaflets or what, if any, complaints the man may have.

Police and the airport's information office could not immediately be reached for comment while Xinhua reported that Ji's injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

China Central Television's Twitter-like microblog said no flights were affected by the incident and that the situation had returned to normal.

An AFP photographer at the airport said there was no sign of increased police presence and travellers were arriving normally.

Photos carried on Xinhua's website showed what appeared to be medical and other workers attending to someone on the floor and people running through the terminal amid white-coloured smoke.

Security at Beijing's airport, the sixth busiest in the world with 557,000 take-offs and landings each year, is tight as are many public locations and transport hubs in the country.

The airport, with three terminals, underwent a massive expansion ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Violent crime is rare in China had a murder rate of 1.0 per 100,000 people in 2010, according to the United Nations, among the lowest in the world.

Corruption and police harassment, however, are frequent complaints, which have caused some citizens to seek redress through the courts and petitions to government agencies though they are often blocked from doing so.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/beijing-airport-bomb-a-personal-protest-40939.php

-- Phuket News 2013-07-21

[jpduggan]

It's OK it was just another I phone going off.....

[jpduggan]

'' The security guards only said two words before the bomb went off". And that was Oh Sh...!

[Chao Lao Beach]

"The explosion sound was loud," said a witness who gave only his family name, Chen, according to the Associated Press. He said he was only 27 yards away from the explosion when it occurred.

Chen said there was only one explosion, and that the terminal was crowded with people. "Since there was no second explosion, many people took out their phones and gathered near the explosion spot to take photos," he said.

At least they would have got the 2nd one if it went off

[bunnydrops]

I was there to and fro just a couple of months ago and was not photographed....??? In Bangkok I was, yes, on leaving and on return .. but no, ...not in Beijing ?? And no I do not agree that there were more security than passengers... not at all !!!............ Mind you I was In Transit both ways ... and never left the airport so that could make the difference

Wow, I would think. When I went though there, there were more security than passengers. The only airport I have been to that photographed passengers that were only passing though.

I was in transit also from SF to Bangkok. We were taken off the plane, had our passports checked and we were photographed just like were entering their country. Security standing around in groups as large as 15. I thought it funny since looking out the windows, I looked like we were in the middle of nowhere. This was somewhere around a year ago.

[jamhar]

Something to keep in my memory the next time someone invokes the "common sense" rule

about how the handicapped, elderly, ect are treated going thru security checks by the Security Officials.

[HHM]

I thought China was a little less susceptible to these things.

China is a time bomb waiting to explode. The entire northwest part of the country are not Chinese. They don't speak Chinese. They don't eat Chinese food. They HATE the chinese. They have ever since the red army went into their country and took it from them. .....just look up "Xinjiang needle stabbings" in Google.

Then you have Tibet. We all know how they feel about being part of China.

Then there is Taiwan.

Then Inner Mongolia, who are technically part of China but have their own autonomous government.

Then you have all the incredibly poor people in rural areas watching the people in Shanghai and Beijing getting rich.

I expect this kind of thing to happen more and more in China.

China is on a fast move and where is movement there are frictions. As long as wealth increases Chinese people will only look for money and do not care about the government. And slowly the China government accepts more and more freedom. As of languages there are 30 languages in China and many do not speak Mandarin, that is not new and not a problem as they all have the same cryptic letters. Tibet people get a lot of material support and without China they would be the poorest country in the world. Perhaps the Chinese government is clever enough to give them more cultural freedom then both can benefit. Taiwan is a seperate country and not problem. Inner Mongolia has an autonomous government with more freedom than the Russians gave Mongolia. Inner Mongolia still uses the Mongolian letters paralell, Mongolia only Russina letters. The different wealth in eastern and western regions is a problem but presently the government supports the west a lot to avoid too much friction. We should not be afraid of bombs in China but should be aware that the Chinese economy will effect the wealth of western and eastern countries if we do not keep pace with China.