Shanghai Bus Explosion: Terrorist Attack or Random Tragedy?
Just heard from my local Chinese friends that “an explosion” killed three people earlier this morning on one of Shanghai’s public transit buses (Route 842). Many of them are speculating that this may have been a terrorist attack (by none other than those dastardly Xinjiang “splitists” of course) while some have even expressed a certain apprehension with using the Shanghai metro now.
Speculation aside, the official media and police insist that the Line 842 incidient was not an “explosion” and just a “fire.” Initial coverage by Xinhua said it was an explosion but has since been revised to the bus having caught on fire.
Original Xinhua quotation at Shanghaiist:
At least three people were killed in a bus explosion in Shanghai at about 9:00 a.m. Monday, according to fire fighters who rushed to the scene.
The cause of the explosion is not yet known. (more…)
