At least one person was killed and eight injured when a series of explosions rocked the street outside a provincial Communist party office in central China on Wednesday morning.
The blasts occurred at 7.40am outside of the Shanxi Communist party committee offices in Taiyuan city, the provincial capital of Shanxi province, according to China’s official newswire Xinhua.
“Judging by steel ball bearings scattered throughout the scene, [police] suspect an improvised explosive device,” Xinhua reported. “Right now the police have blocked off the scene and the incident is under investigation.”
The state broadcaster CCTV attributed the blasts to seven bombs hidden in roadside flower displays.
One person was killed and eight wounded, one of them seriously, the Shanxi provincial government reported on its website, citing local police. More than 20 vehicles were damaged, CCTV reported.
CCTV cited two eyewitnesses, Liu Guoliang and Zheng Quan, as saying that while driving on the street on Wednesday morning they heard a loud sound; about 20 seconds later they saw a great deal of smoke and a burst of fire.
“I saw an iron ball flying from 300 to 400 metres away and hit an old lady on the head,” said an elderly man in a video posted online by a witness. “Look, look at the bloodstain on the ground. I saw seven blasts and three of them were continuous. The iron ball was as big as a walnut. The old lady was accompanying her grandson to school and got hit. Luckily the kid was fine.”
