Bomb detonated at US embassy in Beijing

[dar0ck]

AN explosive device has been detonated by man in a public area at the US embassy in Beijing.

A US embassy spokesperson told CNN the man who detonated the device is the only person

Chinese police are investigating the blast, which occurred around 1pm local time (3pm AEST) in an area where many Chinese citizens line up each day to apply for visas, The New York Times reports.

Beijing police said a “suspected firecracker device” caused a fire, the BBC reports.

The bomber injured his hand during the incident, but there was no danger to his life and he was immediately sent to hospital.

The BBC said the man was named by police as Jiang Moumou, from Inner Mongolia province.

The US embassy complex is in Beijing’s Chaoyang District.

Witnesses posted images on Twitter of smoke surrounding the building.

Earlier, Chinese media reports claimed police took away a woman spraying petrol on herself in a suspected attempt at self-immolation. It is not clear if the two incidents are related.

Although it is not known if the reported blast is terrorism-related, US embassies are frequently the target of terrorist violence, with a dozen incidents reported at American diplomatic posts around the world over the past decade.

The most deadly attacks on US embassies happened on August 7, 1998, when al-Qaeda operatives simultaneously detonated car bombs outside the US embassies in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and the Tanzanian capital Dar Es Salaam. Those attacks, masterminded by Osama bin Laden, left a total of 224 people dead, the overwhelming majority of whom (213) were caught in the Nairobi blast.

There have not previously been any attacks on US embassies or consulates in China.