Chinese security personnel stand outside the U.S. Embassy, in the background, after a reported blast occurred nearby in Beijing, Thursday, July 26, 2018. A single attacker detonated a bomb near the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Thursday, an embassy spokesperson told NBC News. There were no injuries, other than to the bomber, the official and Chinese police said. "There was an explosion at approximately 1 p.m. today in the public space off the South East corner of the Embassy compound," the spokesperson told NBC. "According to the Embassy's Regional Security Officer, there was one individual who detonated a bomb. Other than the bomber, there were no injuries. The local police responded." Chinese police said a suspect detonated a firework-like device near the embassy and injured his hand. Police identified the bomber as a 26-year-old man surnamed Jiang from the Inner Mongolia region of the country. Officials did not provide a suspected motive. The New York Times reported that the blast was heard blocks away in the city. Smoke rises from an apparent bomb detonation outside the U.S. embassy in Beijing. Credit: Gareth Lacey. Chinese media outlet Global Times reported on Twitter that a witness said police took away a woman "spraying gasoline on herself" outside the embassy around 11 a.m. The state-run outlet said in a subsequent Twitter post that it was not "proved yet" that the incident was connected to the explosion near the embassy that occurred later. Despite that earlier altercation, local media reported that a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the afternoon's explosion was an isolated incident. A witness told Reuters they saw Chinese police examining a vehicle outside the embassy, and another witness said there were seven to eight police vehicles near the embassy and the road next to the complex had been closed off. Images and videos posted on Twitter showed a large amount of smoke and what appeared to be police vehicles surrounding the vast structure in northeastern Beijing on Thursday afternoon. Police did not immediately respond to the incident, the Associated Press reported. —Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.<doc-sep>A 26-YEAR-OLD Chinese man set off a small explosive outside the US embassy in Beijing, sending smoke into the air and injuring his hand before security officials rushed to the scene and took him into custody, police said. Chinese police said no one else was injured in the incident, which took place near the area where visa applicants typically line up to enter the embassy for interviews. Chinese police are investigating the blast, which occurred around 1pm local time (3pm AEST). Beijing police said a “suspected firecracker device” caused a fire, the BBC reports. The man was identified as Jiang Moumou, from Inner Mongolia province. Police did not indicate a possible motive and said his injuries were non life threatening. Video clips that circulated on social media shortly after the explosion showed smoke in the air outside the embassy compound. The US embassy complex is in Beijing’s Chaoyang District and is home to several embassies, including those of India and Israel.. Police quickly cordoned off the spot where the blast took place and China’s state-censorship apparatus moving swiftly to block searches for “US Embassy” on the popular Twitter-like Weibo platform. The visa office adjacent to where the blast took place appeared to have resumed operation not long after the incident. “I heard a loud ‘bang’, and then we all craned our heads to see what it was,” said a man surnamed Liu, who was waiting outside the embassy at the time. “It seemed (police) reacted pretty quickly, like they were prepared.” Earlier, Chinese media reports claimed police took away a woman spraying petrol on herself in a suspected attempt at self-immolation. It is not clear if the two incidents are related. just now. Large explosion just minutes ago at either the US or Indian embassy here in Beijing.https://t.co/1QAgZxBE7X — Xah Lee (@xah_lee) July 26, 2018 Although it is not known if the reported blast is terrorism-related, US embassies are frequently the target of terrorist violence, with a dozen incidents reported at American diplomatic posts around the world over the past decade. The most deadly attacks on US embassies happened on August 7, 1998, when al-Qaeda operatives simultaneously detonated car bombs outside the US embassies in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and the Tanzanian capital Dar Es Salaam. Those attacks, masterminded by Osama bin Laden, left a total of 224 people dead, the overwhelming majority of whom (213) were caught in the Nairobi blast. There have not previously been any attacks on US embassies or consulates in China. China regularly sees cases of disgruntled individuals lashing out at society over various grievances or perceived injustices, often harming themselves or others. In one of the worst recent incidents, a bomb blast killed eight people and injured dozens of others outside a kindergarten in eastern China in June of last year. Police blamed it on a 22-year-old man who was suffering from health problems.<doc-sep>When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up to receive our rundown of the day'sdirect to your inbox The explosion happened on the street outside southeast corner of the embassy compound. Li Shaohui, a 58-year-old sanitation worker, said he felt the ground shake and that some people screamed. He added: ”I thought first there was big a car crash," adding that the smoke had cleared quickly. Postings on social media showed pictures of smoke close to where people line up outside the compound for visa appointments. However, some video clips and images have now been removed. In a statement, the US embassy said: "There was one individual who detonated a bomb.<doc-sep>There were earlier reports that police had taken away a woman who had tried to set herself on fire near the embassy at 1100 local time, several hours before the reported blast.<doc-sep>
A man has detonated a small, low-grade bomb outside the US embassy in Beijing, according to US and Chinese authorities, injuring himself but no one else. The explosion occurred at the south-east corner of the embassy compound, a heavily fortified structure in the north-east of the Chinese capital, at about 1pm local time (6am BST). Chinese police said in a statement that the suspect was a 26-year-old man who hurt his hand while setting off a “firecracker-like explosive”. A US embassy spokesperson 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.” Chinese police identified the suspect only by his surname, Jiang, and said he was from Tongliao, a city in China’s Inner Mongolia region. Police said he had been detained and taken to hospital. They did not identify a motive. Videos and photos posted on social media earlier on Thursday showed smoke at a crossroads as groups of pedestrians gathered and police surrounded the area, which is home to several embassies. A Chinese police car near the embassy appeared to have been damaged. Witnesses reported hearing the blast. A witness who only gave his surname, Li, said he was cleaning the road outside the nearby Japanese embassy at the time of the incident. “I heard the sound of a big explosion and then women screaming,” he said. News of the blast spread quickly on Chinese social media, attracting nearly 1m views before search terms related to the incident were blocked. The bombing comes as China and the US are locked in a trade dispute. While Chinese officials and state media have been critical of the White House, there has been no groundswell of public anger towards the US. Within a few hours of the blast, police were ushering journalists away from the scene. Traffic was allowed to flow again and visa applicants were lining up outside the embassy.The state-run Global Times earlier reported that a woman spraying petrol on herself had been taken away from outside the US embassy on Thursday morning in what appeared to be a separate incident.