Beijing airport hit by homemade bomb

A WHEELCHAIR-bound man has set off a homemade bomb in Terminal 3 of Beijing International Airport, Chinese state media said.

Medical workers and policemen at the terminal 3 of the Beijing International Airport after the blast. Picture: AP/Xinhua

Order was quickly restored and no flights were affected by the explosion, state-run China Central Television (CCTV) said.

The official Xinhua News Agency said a Chinese man in a wheelchair set off the device outside the arrivals exit of Terminal 3. It said the man was being treated for injuries but that no one else was injured in the explosion.

CCTV, which also reported that no one else was hurt, identified the man as Ji Zhongxing, born in 1979 and from the eastern province of Shandong.

It was not immediately clear why the man set off the bomb. Police are investigating the incident, Xinhua said.

Photos posted by CCTV on its microblog showed the area outside the arrivals exit empty and filled with smoke. One photo showed medical staff and police officers hovering over a person, with a wheelchair sitting on its side a few steps away.

Reached over the phone, the airport’s news office said it was not aware of the explosion, and airport police declined to answer questions.