4 injured at Shanghai Airport after man throws explosives

[SHANGHAI] Four passengers were injured at the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, one of China's busiest, after a man threw homemade explosives, the city's government said.

The man threw homemade explosives in beer bottles near some check-in counters in Terminal 2 of the airport shortly before 2:30 p.m. local time, according to a statement posted on the official Sina Weibo feed of the Shanghai government, which cited an initial police investigation. The man cut his own throat with a knife after the blast, sustaining a severe injury, it said.

The man and the four passengers injured by broken pieces of glass were sent to a hospital, according to the statement. One of the injured passengers is a citizen of the Philippines.

The incident is being investigated further, according to the statement. While three flights were affected by the incident, the airport is operating normally, it said.

Unverified pictures on China's Weibo microblog showed a person on a gurney being wheeled away by medical attendants and a pool of blood on the floor.

A Reuters reporter at the airport said police in explosion-resistant suits were searching luggage, but that travellers could freely enter the building.

Explosives are relatively easy to obtain in China, home to the world's largest mining and fireworks industries.

A man in a wheelchair detonated a home-made explosive at Beijing's international airport in 2013, injuring himself in what was an apparent attempt to draw attention to an earlier grievance.

Individual Chinese unable to win redress in disputes have in the past resorted to extreme measures, including bombings, but such incidents are rare amid the tight security at the country's airports.

BLOOMBERG,REUTERS