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An explosion took place last weekend at a Shanghai-based Apple factory, making it the third lethal incident at an Apple factory in only 15 months. The incident has left roughly 60 people injured and is currently under investigation by Chinese authorities. more ›

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A suicide bomber blew himself up in a primary school in Anze County, Shanxi Province, killing himself and wounding another 6. Local authorities say that at around 1530 on November 24, Feng Aihong (冯爱红), the suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a local primary school, killing himself on the spot. One teacher and five students who were having sports class were also wounded. However, they suffered only facial burns and there is no danger to their lives. more ›

Two trucks transporting 70 tons of explosives in Guizhou province exploded next to a motor vehicle testing station on Tuesday morning, killing 8 people and injuring 218 others. The explosion was so enormous that six local schools canceled classes because of damage to their buildings. more ›

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A huge fire has broken out at a building (possibly JIA Hotel) on Wujiang Road, with six storeys of balconies up in flames. Eye witnesses in the neighbourhood report on Sina Weibo that a gas leak may have caused the explosion, and the entire area now reeks of gas. more ›

Four people were killed in a scuffle between rival construction companies in Gansu province last weekend when arguments over a parking dispute escalated to outright violence. After a highway construction company started a fight with a rival railway construction company, the railway construction company set off explosives in revenge against the other crew. Just another good reason never drive or own a vehicle in China. more ›

Michael Bay, the explosion-happy director of "Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon", is coming to Shanghai for the Mainland China premiere of the third outing in the Transfomers franchise. It's been out worldwide for the last few weeks (and has grossed around $500 million), with pirated copies already available in the mainland. Its official run in Chinese theaters begins next Thursday, on July 21st. more ›

Authorities have arrested a man for setting off a remotely-controlled bomb in a supermarket in the Shanghai suburb of Jiading at about 2pm yesterday. The man, who has now confessed, supposedly planted the bomb in a locker of an RT-Mart on Xinyu Rd (near Cao'an Road) and then called the supermarket around 1:10pm threatening to set it off. more ›

The second bombing of its kind in as many weeks, a man surnamed Liu has been arrested for bombing a government building in Tianjin yesterday. The explosion occurred around 10am and injured two people. The man has allegedly claimed the attack was a "revenge against society." It's not clear at this time what his specific grievances were, and the search results for "Tianjing bombings" (天津爆炸案) have already been censored from Sina Weibo. more ›

More details have emerged about the man responsible for the simultaneous bombings of three government buildings in Fuzhou City (抚州), Jiangxi Province (not to be confused with Fuzhou, Fujian) yesterday -- and the story is a heartbreaking one. more ›

• A fire in a four-story clothing factory in Beijing early this morning killed 17 and injured at least 24 in yet another tragedy caused by illegal construction practices. Those killed were all migrant workers.
• Rescue workers are scrambling to reach eight miners trapped underground after an explosion rocked their facility in Guizhou this morning.
• An explosion in a pesticide plant in Guangxi caused three known injuries. Fires engulfed 3,000 meters and two warehouses. Two harmful chemicals have been confirmed on site, and authorities have cordoned off the factory awaiting further tests.

Earlier today, heating pipes exploded in Sidaokou in Beijing's Haidian District, sending a massive plume of smoke in the air. more ›

WARNING: This video contains graphic images. more ›

A man in a Guangzhou Lenovo store died after the cellphone in his chest pocket exploded. The explosion severed a major artery in his neck and caused massive blood loss, almost immediately killing him. Though the make and model of the mobile phone are still under investigation, a member of the staff said the man had just changed his cellphone battery to a new one. This is the 9th recorded cellphone explosion in China since 2002, so maybe it's best to make sure your cellphone's in a bag or something, rather than on your physical person. Hexun more ›

AFP reports:

One person was killed Sunday in a blast near a police post in China's financial hub Shanghai, the state news agency Xinhua reported. more ›

The Chinese Consulate-General in Mumbai is located less than 100 metres away from the Oberoi Hotel, one of the luxury hotels that were bombed by terrorists yesterday, but no casualties have been reported as yet. In what appeared to be a highly coordinated effort supposedly by a little-known Islamic group called the Deccan Mujahideen, teams of heavily-armed gunmen unleashed at least seven attacks across the city, including the landmark Taj Hotel, a popular tourist attraction and a train station, killing at least 100 people and injuring another 200. In an interview with the Legal Evening Post 《法制晚报》, Vice Consul Wang Zhenhua (王振华) has said the consulate-general was "very fortunate" to emerge from the blasts relatively unscathed. Wang was sleeping in the consulate when he heard a huge blast that rattled the building that housed the consulate. Since then the consulate-general has been working nonstop — making and receiving calls related to the safety of Chinese nationals and organisations, liaising with hotels and police departments, and beefing up security at the consulate-general. On hearing that the Oberoi Hotel had been attacked and hostages held there, Wang's top concern was for the general manager and employees of Sinopec's Hong Kong subsidiary which had its office located in the hotel. Fortunately they are all safe and no reports of Chinese casualties or hostages have been made yet. more ›

It's four days to the opening of the Olympics and it looks like everyone's nerves are getting super-jittery. A mysterious black roller suitcase found at Tesco's outlet on Guangxin Lu in Putuo District caused a minor bomb scare yesterday evening around 8.30pm. All customers were evacuated and the police soon arrived, only to find that the suitcase contained absolutely nothing. [China Daily] more ›

Chris Horton of GoKunming informs us of another abnormal incident involving a bus in Kunming Monday evening. No reports of any bomb or explosive device were made, but eyewitnesses say they heard a "loud explosion-like sound", as rumours of another explosion spread like wildfire via text message. Meanwhile, in a separate incident at the Kunming airport, several irate passengers "clashed with airport police, smashing computers, desks and other items". more ›

Six years ago, when we first arrived in China, we thought this would be the last place on earth to be hit by Islamic terrorism, but this latest video issued by a certain Turkestan Islamic Party not just changed our minds, it sent a tingle down our spine. In it, a Commander Seyfullah claims credit for the following, according to an AFP report:
• the May 5 Shanghai bus explosion which killed three;
• another Shanghai attack (not sure which one exactly);
• an attack on police in Wenzhou on July 17 using an explosive-laden tractora bombing of a Guangzhou plastic factory on July 17

The three consecutive bus explosions in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, and nearby Minshan that killed three people and injured 14 this morning were "cases of man-made, deliberate sabotage", according to a spokesman from the Yunnan PSB. According to Reuters, the Kunming blasts "came two days after Yunnan police opened fire and killed two rubber farmers in the province's Menglian county in a clash that also saw 41 police officers injured" and so there is the possibility that the explosions were related to the clash. Meanwhile, Mr Li Jiheng, deputy party chief of Yunnan, has been flown in to investigate the clash. More updates to be available by our friends from GoKunming. more ›

Sorry this bears no relation to the Sichuan earthquake, but has any of you seen this in your hood yet? We don't have any time to translate this right now (maybe one of you can help), but apparently they're looking for the suspect in the explosion of Bus 942 in Yangpu District which happened earlier this month. The (dead) suspect is said to be around 40 years of age, 1.64m tall, and sports about 9 (shoddily-made) fake teeth. And the police are offering a reward of RMB50,000 for anyone who can give them any solid details about this man. [h/t to reader Tom Pellman] more ›

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?

AFP: Dalai Lama has committed 'monstrous crimes': China's state press more ›