Man detonates explosive device near US embassy in China’s Beijing

An explosion occurred in Beijing’s Chaoyang District where several embassies are located.

A 26-year-old man was detained on Thursday afternoon after he detonated a crude bomb outside the US embassy in Beijing.

Officials and security personnel stand near the site of reported blast just south of the US Embassy in Beijing. (AP Photo)

The Indian embassy is located next to the US embassy.

Police said the suspect, identified as Jiang from China’s Inner Mongolia province, was carrying the “firecracker” when it detonated in his hand.

No one else was injured.

Photos and videos on social media showed a large amount of smoke in the area with people running from the spot. Eyewitnesses said the situation appeared normal by early afternoon.

Soon after the explosion, police patrol cars surrounded the embassy and cordoned off the roads leading to it. The official version from the Beijing police didn’t specify the US embassy but only mentioned the roads nearby.

“At about 1 pm on July 26, a man ignited a suspected firecracker device at the intersection of Tianze Road and Anjialou Road in Chaoyang district (which is where the US embassy is located), causing a deflagration, causing his hand to be injured but the injury is not life-threatening,” the Beijing police said in an official statement.

A statement on the US embassy website said: “According to the Embassy’s Regional Security Officer, there was one individual who detonated a bomb. Other than the bomber, no other people were injured and there was no damage to embassy property. The local police responded.”

Earlier, the state controlled Global Times tweeted about an attempted self-immolation by an unidentified woman outside the embassy.

The tweet, quoting witnesses said “a woman spraying gasoline on herself was taken away from outside the US embassy earlier on Thursday morning, according to witnesses”.

The two incidents were not related, the newspaper later said.