Gambling loss anger behind fatal bus blast
Print Edition
A MAN vented his anger over gambling losses by causing an explosion on a bus, leaving two people dead and injuring 32, police said yesterday.
Fire engulfed the vehicle following the blast in Guangzhou, capital of the southern province of Guangdong, late Tuesday.
The suspect, a 25-year-old surnamed Ou from China’s central Hunan Province, was held yesterday morning.
According to news website thepaper.cn, police in Hunan are also investigating Ou over recent attempts to derail bullet trains near his hometown.
Many of the victims of yesterday’s incident suffered burns in the blast about 7:45pm, when the No. 301 bus was entering Dunhe Station.
Eight are in critical condition, with four with more than 80 percent burns, said officials.
Police did not say how the blast happened, though witnesses reported smoke coming from a package shortly before.
This is the third deliberate bus blaze in China this month.
Officers did not say where Ou was at the time of the blast.
He confessed and is in custody, said the Guangzhou public security bureau.
“Ou said that he was angry and frustrated at his gambling losses, so carried out an arson attack on the 301 bus,” the police statement said.
Most of the victims are being treated at three hospitals in downtown Guangzhou, a spokesman with the public security bureau said.
“Doctors say it might take two to four weeks for the severest cases to be out of danger,” added the spokesman.
The Guangdong No. 2 People’s Hospital received seven victims, including a woman who is three months pregnant. The hospital has set up a special team to treat the injured.
The mother-to-be, 28, who gave her surname as Chen, had burns covering more than 40 percent of her body, as well as a broken leg from the incident.
Surveillance camera footage of the incident showed people waiting at Dunhe Station when suddenly passengers rushed off the bus.
Some bystanders had walked over to see what was happening when the explosion occurred.
Footage showed some people running away, while others were on fire.
A man surnamed Wu, 45, told Southern Metropolitan Daily that he heard someone shout that there was a bomb and saw smoke coming from a package.
There have been two deliberate blazes on buses in China this month, including one in Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, on July 5 that left 32 people injured.
In June 25, a bullet train was damaged after running into a “triangular metal framework,” near the village of Quanzi in Hengyang City, Ou’s hometown.
Then on July 6, villagers spotted a metal obstacle on a section of track about 2 kilometers from where the first incident, alerting the authorities before any damage could be done.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
