Chinese pranksters’ subway landmine stunt blows up in their faces
- Group who filmed themselves running through train in Shenzhen while shouting about explosives find themselves in police detention
Three young men have been detained by police in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen after they caused panic on the subway as part of a prank.
Surveillance footage shows passengers on the city’s subway caught up in a mini-stampede on Friday after two of the men ran through a train shouting “Get down! Be careful of the landmines!”.
Police in the city, which lies on the border with Hong Kong, said in a statement that passengers had been told to get off the train at the next stop while it was taken out of service to be inspected.
Police said two men – a 24-year-old surnamed Xiang and a 20-year-old named Wu – had been detained over the prank, which they had filmed with the intention of putting the footage online.
An unnamed third man was detained later that day.
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Although no one was injured in the incident and operations of other trains were not affected, the police said they were still taking it seriously and put all three under criminal detention.
It was not clear how long they would spend in custody.
Chinese police are on high alert as a number of high-profile political anniversaries loom, including the 30th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown and the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.
The Shenzhen Public Security Bureau’s public transport branch issued a stern reminder after the incident, stressing that the subway was an important public place with heavy passenger flows.
“The public security organs will handle them in strict accordance with the law if there is illegal conduct.”
It also asked passengers to keep calm in case of emergency and not to panic or run.
