Witnesses say explosion heard at Beijing airport terminal: Report

Witnesses say explosion heard at Beijing airport terminal: Report

BEIJING - A loud explosion was heard Saturday at Terminal 3 of Beijing International Airport, state media reported.

The official Xinhua news agency cited witnesses as saying the explosion came at about 6.24 pm.

Photos carried on Xinhua's website carried captions citing the witnesses as saying a disabled person had ignited bombs on himself and that casualties were unknown.

The pictures showed medical workers attending to someone and people running through the terminal.

According to China Daily, a loud explosion was reported by passengers at the Beijing Capital Intl Airport on Saturday evening.

A wheel-chaired Chinese man set off a home-made explosive device outside the arrivals exit of the Terminal 3 at around 6:24 pm.

8:30 pm

The airport says the arrival hall where the explosion went off has been cleared and order was restored. It has opened other areas for arriving passengers.

8:20 pm

A policeman was slightly injured in the explosion, which left the suspect's arm fractured, CCTV anchor Rui Chenggang wrote on Sina Weibo.

8:15 pm

China Central Televisoin says bomber is alive at the hospital, and the bomb was homemade from fireworks.

8:10 pm

@MalcolmMoore on Twitter: T3 back to normal, they've reopened the arrivals channel. Small pool of blood around 6ft from arrivals exit

8:05 pm

Suspect bomber Ji Zhongxing's blog leaked online. http://blog.sina.com.cn/u/1253278144

South Metropolis Daily shared on Sina Weibo a blog that it said was by Ji Zhongxing.

The blog included several stories claiming Ji became paralyzed after he was beaten by security guards in Dongguan, Guangdong province. Ji wrote that he worked part-time as a motorcycle taxi driver to make ends meet and was chased by policemen and then beaten by security guards on June 28, 2005.

Ji had to return to his hometown in Shandong province and has been appealing for assistance.

8:00 pm

Beijing Govt News Office says the suspect hurt only himself with the bomb. No one else was injured.

7:50 pm

Eyewitness @mild_luna wrote on Sina Weibo: Nobody took care of the man shouting in the wheelchair at the beginning, until someone noticed the suspicious white plastic bag. Security guards rushed at him, and several minutes later, the man detonated the explosive.

7:45 pm

Sources at Sina said the man detonated the explosive after he was stopped from passing out leaflets about his grievances.

7:40 pm

Beijing police identified the explosion suspect as Ji Zhongxing, who was born in 1979 and from Heze, Shandong province. No flights were affected by the explosion, according to CCTV.

7:35 pm

The Beijing News reports nobody else was injured in an explosion at the airport which declared an emergency following the blast.

A group of photos uploaded to Sina Weibo shows the explosion at Beijing Capital International Airport on Saturday. The photos show a man on a wheelchair shouting and holding up a white bag before the blast. (for more photos at the site)

Explosion heard at Beijing's airport

7:30 pm

China Central Television reported that a man got injured after he detonated the explosive used for making firecrackers at the Beijing Capital International Airport. The man was sent to hospital for treatment while police launched an investigation.

7:10 pm

The blast was from a motorized wheelchair, sources told Sina Weibo.

The casualties were unknown so far.

7:00 pm

Many passengers said they witnessed the blast which occurred near Gate B, Terminal 3 of the airport at around 6:24 pm. Some photos uploaded to the site Sina Weibo showed smokes and dusts following the blast.

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