The Chinese Police Department reported that yesterday, at 2.30 P.M., a deranged man threw a bomb made out of a beer bottle in front of the counter of Shanghai Pudong International Airport’s terminal 2. The bomb, which authorities said was home-made, left five people with cut injuries.
The attacker’s identity has not been confirmed yet. He is in a hospital in critical condition due to a self-made knife wound on the neck. There are no details on the motivations, or the background of the attack and the police department declared there is an ongoing investigation.
According to the official report, approached the counter and threw the object. Then, took out a knife and sliced his neck. Initially, it was thought there to be three injured people, but the last report said there were five including the attacker who was quickly taken to a hospital.
An unofficial video posted on YouTube shows the events. There could be seen many people in the queue at the check-up counter before boarding the plane. Suddenly, they all seemed to be clearly alarmed and dispersed running in every direction. The personal behind the counter hides behind it and cover their ears as if they knew what was happening. The explosion takes place at the end of the line, close to the Philippine counter, but apart from the flash and the smoke, it does not look serious. A man that did not run was standing almost directly on top of the object when it exploded. In spite of that, the man just walks out of the smoke cloud like nothing happened.
Bomb attacks at Asian airports are not common
In China, it is rare to listen to this kind of attack because the security in Asian airports is very strict and they don’t take lightly bombing threats. In fact, if someone says the word bomb in one of these airports, this person can be taken to jail.
However, back in 2013, an explosion was reported at a Beijing airport, but it was not a terrorist attack. It was a 34-year-old man, Ji Zhongxing, a physically challenged man that was asking for governmental support. He was part of a group of people called “petitioners” who are people that were wrong by the government, and protest to receive help. Chinese patrol officers brutally beat the man eight years before the bombing at the airport. He was left paralytic, and after trying very hard to get support through legal means, he decided to take action. He lost one of his arms in the explosion, but he made sure no one else was affected.
Authorities have said nothing about the man that attacked the Pudong Airport last Saturday. It is important to note that there are only two airports in the country, and the Shanghai Pudong International Airport is only from which people can travel abroad.
A spokesperson for the facility said that besides three delayed flights, the operations were carried away without disruption.
Source: Shanghai Daily