17 bomb attacks on China's national day

Explosions at 13 locations on eve of China's national day kill seven & injure 51 in rural South China county of Liucheng near Vietnamese border. "Criminal case" not a "terrorist act" claim authorities.

BOMBINGS

Letter bomb attacks on China's national day

AFP News Agency

An injured man is given medical treatment at a hospital after a series of blasts in Liucheng county in Liuzhou, south China's Guangxi province. AFP PHOTO

On the eve of China's national day, 17 letter bombs exploded in southern China with blasts in multiple locations including government offices.

Seven people were killed and 51 injured.

The explosions occurred in at least 13 locations including a prison, a government office and a shopping centre in the rural county of Liucheng in the Guangxi region.

Liucheng, near the Vietnam border is home to about 400,000 people and is one of China's poorest regions.

Pictures posted online showed portions of six-storey buildings gutted and collapsed, and streets littered with glass, bricks and other debris.

Other photos showed overturned cars, victims bandaged and laid on makeshift stretchers and plumes of grey smoke rising above a residential district.

The explosives were apparently placed in express delivery packages.

Damaged windows are seen on the ground of a room at the site of blasts in Liucheng county. AFP PHOTO

CRIMINAL CASE, NOT TERRORIST ACT

They said a 33-year-old local suspect had been identified but gave no immediate motive and were seeking his arrest.

Authorities took care to label this as a "criminal case" not a "terrorist act".

A "preliminary suspect" was named as M. Wei, aged 33.

In recent years several disgruntled Chinese citizens have bombed local government offices and public places to try to draw attention to their grievances.

In 2013 a man set off a series of home-made bombs packed with ball bearings outside a provincial government headquarters in northern China, killing at least one person and wounding eight.

He allegedly sought to "take revenge on society".

The same year a street vendor set fire to a bus in east China's Fujian province, killing himself and nearly four dozen passengers in an act of retaliation against local authorities.

Legal paths for pursuing justice in China are limited, as courts are subject to political influence and corruption.

Citizens who lodge complaints against authorities often find themselves being detained.

Authorities maintain tight control over public security in the one-party state and place huge importance on maintaining social order.

FRESH BLASTS THE NEXT DAY

One day after 17 parcel bombs, a fresh explosion rocked a southern Chinese town in the early morning in a residential building in the same rural county of Liucheng as the first blasts.

The six-storey building, near a local highway administrative bureau in Liucheng, the county seat, caused "some damage" according to local media reports with "bricks scattered around" the explosion site.

There were no injuries immediately reported.

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