Police have arrested a suspect in a series of mail bomb explosions that ripped through the city of Liuzhou in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Wednesday afternoon, leaving seven people dead and at least 51 injured.
According to the Ministry of Public Security, the 33-year-old suspect, identified only by his family name Wei, is from the nearby Dapu Township. The ministry declined to provide further details including a possible motive.
The explosions, which occurred between 3:15 p.m. and 5 p.m., were reported in more than a dozen locations including a hospital, local markets, a shopping mall, a bus station and several government buildings.
Initial police investigations suggest the blasts were triggered by explosive devices hidden in several mail packages, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
"I was sitting in my shop when I heard a sudden loud bang. I was in shock," Li Acheng, the owner of a fruit store several meters from one of the blast sites, told the South China Morning Post.
"We were all very shocked and thought it might be an act of terrorism."
Criminal investigators have been sent to the scene of the explosions and are treating it as a criminal act and not terrorism, according to the state-owned Xinhua News Agency.
Pictures posted online showed smoke-filled streets, partially destroyed buildings, strewn debris, and damaged vehicles on the road.
Five victims were pronounced dead at the scene, while the injured, some of them in critical condition, were treated in nearby hospitals.
The local government has launched emergency measures, including sending an emergency alert warning the public not to open parcels they might have received recently.
A total of 60 suspicious packages have been identified following reports from the public, public security political commissar Cai Tianlai said in a press conference.
The suspicious packages are currently being guarded, pending processing by a bomb squad, according to China News Service.