One Injured in Explosion Near US Embassy in Beijing

An explosion near the US Embassy at approximately 1pm today, Jul 26, has left one person – the perpetrator – injured. The incident occurred when a lone assailant, later named by police as 26-year-old "Jiang" from Inner-Mongolia, attempted to throw an explosive device over the fence of the US Embassy near Liangmaqiao. The device failed to clear the fence, instead detonating nearby and inflicting non-life-threatening injuries to the assailant's hand as well as damaging a parked police van, according to Radio Free Asia.

The police were quick to cordon off the area and block all through traffic past the embassy while eyewitness reports started to flow onto social media, describing a large explosion and showing a billowing plume of smoke around the gate of the embassy.

Though initial reports and a video of the scene appeared to show at least two people on the ground following the explosion, police later confirmed that no one else has been injured (see below). The suspect was later detained and taken to the hospital and there are currently no indications as to his motivation.

After the incident, it was reported that anyone who was present in the area during the explosion, including those people waiting for visa services etc., were unable to leave while police established the chain of events. Later, witnesses were allowed to leave the scene.

Earlier in the day, there were also reports of a woman dousing herself with gasoline outside of the US Embassy though there has been no word on whether the two incidents are related. The woman was detained by the police and carried away from the scene.

Although such targeted attacks are extremely rare in Beijing, 2013 was a particularly bad year for explosions with one disgruntled bomber in a wheelchair injuring a bystander in Beijing Capital International Airport's Terminal 3 after he was restricted from handing out protest fliers. Later that year, a 4x4 plowed into bystanders in Tiananmen before bursting into flames and leading to the death of the three attackers, two innocents, and the injury of thirty-nine others.

Images: diplomacy.state.gov, noagendasocial.com, Twitter (Jimmy Zhong)