Skip to footer

Man injures himself detonating homemade explosive in Beijing airport

On Saturday evening a man in a wheelchair detonated a homemade explosive device in Beijing airport, injuring himself, but no one else. Though the device created smoke, airport operations continued as usual Saturday evening. 

|
Jason Lee/Reuters
Policemen and security personnel work at arrival gate B where an explosion occurred at Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport Saturday. A man in a wheelchair detonated a home-made explosive, injuring himself and sending smoke billowing through the exit area of the international arrivals section of Terminal 3.
  • By Ben Blanchard and John Ruwitch Reuters

| Beijing

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

Individual Chinese unable to win redress for grievances have in the past resorted to extreme measures, including bombings, but such incidents are rare amid the tight security of airports, and the motive in this case is not yet known.

There were no other injuries and operations were normal after the blast, the airport said on its microblog, while official news agency Xinhua said the man detonated a loud explosive device, but gave no details.

State broadcaster China Central Television said the explosion took place just feet outside the door from which arriving international passengers depart after picking up their luggage. It was not clear why the man was at the airport.

An airport spokeswoman declined to speculate about the man's motive, saying airport police were still investigating. Police declined to comment. Officials said the bomber was being treated for his injuries.

A Reuters witness said things had returned to normal about 90 minutes after the explosion and there were no signs of extra security.

Explosives are relatively easy to obtain in China, home to the world's largest mining and fireworks industries.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Man injures himself detonating homemade explosive in Beijing airport
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0720/Man-injures-himself-detonating-homemade-explosive-in-Beijing-airport
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe