May 7, 2008
Why the Shanghai bus exploded (according to one Hong Kong tabloid with a fabulous graphic team)
Various reports on yesterday's bus explosion in Yangpu District have attributed the cause of the fire to flammable material that one passenger brought onto the bus, but Hong Kong's Apple Daily《苹果日报》has suggested a "suicide-style bombing" (自杀式炸巴士) by Xinjiang terrorist groups. Here's part of the report, as translated by ESWN:
... Even more frightening to the citizens than the casualties at the scene is the vague reporting by the media. The description covered 'self-ignition,' 'ignited explosion (that is, a fire caused by an explosion in the engine),' 'arson' and 'explosion' and this is enough to make one question whether the truth is being concealed. Even more terrifying than the bus being set on fire in an attack is that the Shanghai public security bureau said casually that this was caused by flammable materials brought on by a bus. Even more scary to the outside world is that the authorities could cover up the fact that the train in the Shandong collusion was the Olympic Games special promotion train. If they can seal off the truth about the Shanghai bus and they can seal off the situation about epidemics, what couldn't they not deceive the Chinese people and the rest of the world on?
Roland Soong of ESWN appears skeptical of the report and says the Apple Daily is representative of a "different brand of journalism that is not the kind that is taught in school".
In related news, a gasoline leak on another public bus (No. 135) in Shanghai yesterday caused a major panic among passengers.
More pictures from the Apple Daily report after the jump.
And a real photo:
Previously on Shanghaiist
At least three dead after Shanghai bus explosion
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Has anyone asked if this bus was powered by natural gas?
But on the other hand, as many Chinese were so glad 9-11 happened, eating some bitter kabobs from E. Turkestan may be just what the doctor ordered for Shanghai.
I think you should be locked up.
Yeah, that's one of the most pathetic comments I've seen on this site, including the worst rants of your China-nationalist opposite numbers.
Apple Daily isn't really a tabloid, it's Hong Kong's 2nd highest circulation newspaper (behind Oriental Daily). Sure, it's wildly sensationalistic, enjoys poking China with a stick (see former publisher Jimmy Lai's ban from China) and writes in Cantonese rather than Chinese (a fact my mom bemoans to no end), but it IS a proper newspaper. Just one for the masses.
My favorite Apple Daily graphics are the ones depicting triad machete attacks as if done by the Family Circus' "Not Me" ghost, complete with sequential graphics.
If it were a terrorist act, I would think the Chinese government would be playing it up a bit more in order to add fuel (erm hm) to the persecution of "terrorist groups" in Xinjiang.
Since nobody in China is spinning it that way yet, I assume that someone just brought an open can of fuel or some other flammable fluid onto the bus and that it somehow ignited. This would not be unheard of in China. I have seen many interesting cargoes carried onto busses. Why not a can of fuel?
And the more important question is, if this was a terrorist act, why does everyone in the Apple Daily's graphics look so surprised. Shouldn't we have at lease some praying Muslims represented in the image too? Joking aside, I have often marvelled at computer-generated images in the Hong Kong press. No subject is taboo. Sex, fights, accidents, drug overdoses -- it's all fair game.
Oh, and why are there bullet holes in the bus windows in that last pic? Tell me, do you ascribe to a one-gunman theory or a two-gunman conspiracy?
I'm no expert but it must have been a sizable explosion to blow out all of the windows like that, as seen in the final image.
Apple Daily is probably HK's most popular daily and the darling of the democracy movement. It spearheaded the big anti-Tung Chee Hwa demonstration in 2003 (half-million HK people took to the streets calling for his resignation) and bankrolls the annual 6-4 commemoration in HK. The chairman, Jimmy Lai, founded the clothing retailer Giordano and then rolled his profits into creating an independent voice for HK in the run-up to 97. Jimmy's banned from China because he once wrote an editorial in sister magazine Next calling Li Peng a turtle egg with zero iq. It's a fun read. :)
"I'm no expert but it must have been a sizable explosion to blow out all of the windows like that, as seen in the final image."
It is far more likely that the windows broke due to the heat of the fire, than due to any explosion on the bus.
Maybe the bomb was packed with BBs. And the terrorism angle only gets played up by the mouthpieces when the PAP catches the terrorists in the act, not when the almighty authorities have been caught completely flat footed.
Showing how much of my knowledge comes from popular culture, the last image of the bus looks REMARKABLY like the first bus that Howard Payne blows up in Santa Monica in his attemptto exact revenge on Office Jack Traven of the Los Angeles SWAT team.
"And the terrorism angle only gets played up by the mouthpieces when the PAP catches the terrorists in the act, not when the almighty authorities have been caught completely flat footed."
Have to agree. The authorities wouldn't claim terrorism as it would make China look unsafe for the Olympics. Not that it's ever stopped people from going to the US. We claim EVERYTHING is terrorism and get hordes of people coming through our borders.
This is what those graphics reminded me of.
"It is far more likely that the windows broke due to the heat of the fire, than due to any explosion on the bus."
Care to explain why?
The people in the graphic look strangely Caucasian to me.
Gasoline is flammable, not explosive, that is why I ask if this bus was powered by natural gas.
But if it was a bomb, it was not gasoline, it was an explosive and possibly a mix of commonly available ingredients like fertilizer, ammonia, alcohol and welding/soldering gas from street side hardware stores.
"Have to agree. The authorities wouldn't claim terrorism as it would make China look unsafe for the Olympics. Not that it's ever stopped people from going to the US. We claim EVERYTHING is terrorism and get hordes of people coming through our borders."
yeeeeeee! lets all immigrate to usa if they let us. make 1 billion population of usa and then nobody wanna go there !