BACKFIRE

Explosion Outside U.S. Embassy in China Only Injures Suspect

Device believed to be a small bomb made of fireworks.

A man exploded a small homemade bomb outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Thursday, injuring only himself, according to police and an embassy spokesperson. The Beijing Police Department posted a statement identifying the suspect by his surname, Jiang, and said he was 26 years old and from Tongliao city in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia. His hand was injured by the explosive device, which was reportedly made from fireworks and was detonated at about 1 p.m. local time (12 a.m. ET), police said. Chinese state newspaper Global Times also reported that security earlier removed a women from outside the embassy who had sprayed gasoline on herself in a “suspected attempt at self-immolation.” There was no word on a motive for either incident and a police statement said the investigation was continuing.