Beijing mall shut for hours after bomb threat
Shopping mall on Beijing outskirts sealed off for seven hours after a department store receives ransom demand on last day of National People’s Congress
A shopping mall on the outskirts of Beijing was sealed off for almost seven hours on Thursday after a department store received a bomb threat on the last day of the National People’s Congress.
The Carrefour branch in Longde Square, Changping district, received an e-mail before 9am saying explosives had been placed inside the store and would be detonated if a 50,000 yuan (HK$63,000) ransom was not paid, Changping police said.
Employees and customers in the 330,000-square-metre shopping complex were evacuated after police arrived after 9am, workers said.
Police sealed off the side of the mall where Carrefour’s entrance is located. Businesses on other sides were asked to also close and the entrance to the mall was locked.
“At first we were told it was a firemen’s inspection; then, we were told the mall had an electrical problem,” said a man who worked in a restaurant on the fifth floor.
The man was kept waiting outside the mall for hours with more than 100 other employees while a dozen police cars, a fire truck and special police cars arrived. A police dog squad was seen entering Carrefour.