BEIJING — An explosion was reported in front of the American embassy in Beijing. The alleged assailant was injured in the explosion, but there no other victims.
On July, 26th, several videos were published on Chinese social media that seem to show the aftermath of an explosion in front of the US embassy in Beijing. They were shot by passerby in the Chaoyang district, where most of the foreign embassies are located.
Clouds of smoke and a small amount of debris are seen in front of the American embassy's entrance. Police urged passersby to stop filming and quickly move away, while cordoning off the area.
Online mentions of the explosion have since been suppressed by Chinese censorship, and footage and pictures were quickly scrubbed from the internet.
However, the very official Global Times confirmed shortly after that an explosion had occurred around 1pm. The Communist Party owned-media outlets also reported that police took away a woman who was pouring gasoline on herself in front of the embassy in the morning. It hasn't yet been established if the two events were linked.
The official Weibo account of the Beijing Police published a message later in the afternoon, revealing that the alleged assailant is from Inner Mongolia and that his name is Jiang Moumou.
The message also stated that there were no other victims than the assailant himself, whose hand was injured in the explosion. After subduing him, the police took him to the hospital.
An investigation is still in progress.
