Update | Mail bombs lay ruin to Chinese county as 7 killed, dozens injured in 17 sites across Guangxi’s Liucheng
Police arrest male suspect linked to the blasts that killed at least seven people and left buildings damaged across county in Guangxi
Bombs hidden in courier parcels delivered to various locations across a county in Guangxi province exploded yesterday, killing at least seven and injuring dozens ahead of the seven-day National Day holiday.
The blasts occurred at the seat of Liucheng county, in the city of Liuzhou, and its surrounding areas, with the first bang heard at around 3.50pm, state media Xinhua reported. Five people died at the scene.
Local police said they had launched a criminal investigation and identified a 33-year-old male suspect, surnamed Wei, from Dapu township. The blasts were triggered by explosive devices hidden in express delivery packages, police said.
reported that Wei had since been arrested.
Explosions also occurred in other areas around Liuzhou, the media said, citing the city's public security department.
On Dapu's Dongcheng Road - one of the blast sites - part of a building had collapsed. Nearby vehicles were also damaged.
"Some windows in my shop broke. I walked outside to see what had happened and was almost hit by a falling window from the third floor.
"I saw half of a building nearby collapse.
"We were all very shocked and thought it might be an act of terrorism. All shops were closed and the town is under curfew with police guarding every street … It was very scary with so many attacks in just over an hour."
Li and his family left the town for a nearby village, fearing further attacks.
Pictures online showed injured victims, damaged buildings, and wrecked vehicles.
She remained traumatised by the shock of the blasts even hours later, she told the online news portal, and ran to a nearby field beside a river bank, refusing to return home.
The suspicious parcels were being guarded, pending processing by a bomb squad, according to China News Service.
Local authorities had activated their emergency response mechanism and the local safety administration had sent out an emergency alert, saying the series of explosions had been triggered by parcel bombs and warning the public not to open parcels, reported.
