Two dead, 14 injured in Kunming bus explosions
Today at approximately 7:05 am a bus running the number 54 route exploded at the Panjiawan bus stop on Renmin Xi Lu, killing one and injuring ten, according to initial Kunming media reports.
Approximately one hour later at 8:05, another bus exploded at the intersection of Renmin Xi Lu and Changyuan Lu, reportedly killing one passenger and injuring four.
As of 11:30 am, no official announcements regarding the explosions have been made by the Kunming police or municipal government.
According to reports, eyewitnesses at the Panjiawan incident described an extremely loud explosion and all the windows of the bus shattering, covering the street with glass.
A special task force comprised of provincial and municipal officials has been organized and dispatched to the scenes of the explosions and an investigation is underway.
A BBS on local internet portal clzg.cn has posted some photos of scenes from after the Panjiawan explosion.
Update: Reuters is reporting a third explosion in the vicinity of Minshan, and both Reuters and Al-Jazeera seem to be suggesting a possible connection between today's blasts and a violent clash between farmers and police at a rubber plant in southern Yunnan's Menglian (孟连) on Saturday in which two farmers were killed and 54 people – including 41 police – were injured.
Video of the Panjiawan blast's wreckage has been posted by the website ChinaNews.com.
Shanghai Daily is reporting that the Kunming municipal government will hold a press conference about the blasts this afternoon, citing a CCTV report.
Update 2: Chinese news site ccvic.com is reporting a third fatality from the original two blasts. According to the report, the third victim died while on the way to the hospital. The above image comes from the same report.
Update 3: Sources at Kunming Wujiaba International Airport have told GoKunming that at least one flight has been delayed due to weather-related reasons, despite no apparent inclement weather.
Top image: Yunnan.cn
This article was posted by Chris and published July 21, 2008
Next article: Kunming on high alert after double bus bombing
Previous article: This weekend around Kunming