Explosion Near US Embassy In Beijing

Updated at 3:55 a.m. ET

A bomb was detonated near the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries other than the bomber himself, according to Chinese and U.S. embassy officials.

Chinese police reported that a small, homemade device was detonated by a 26-year-old man who hurt only himself, The Associated Press reports.

The South China Morning Post, quoting a statement from police, said the man, identified by his surname, Jiang, injured his hand igniting what was described as “fireworks.”

The man is from Tongliao in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, according to police.

Witnesses reported a loud explosion at about 1 p.m. local time. Photos and videos posted to social media showed a large amount of smoke surrounding the embassy compound in northeastern Beijing.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman confirmed: “There was an explosion at approximately 1 pm today on the street outside the South East corner of the Embassy compound. According to the Embassy’s Regional Security Officer, there was one individual who detonated a bomb. Other than the bomber, no other people were injured and there was no damage to embassy property. The local police responded.”

A spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, Geng Shuang, said the explosion was an isolated incident, and that police were handling it, according to the Post.

In another incident, state-run Global Times said police had detained a woman who sprayed gasoline on herself in an apparent attempt to self-immolate.

It was not immediately known if the two incidents were related.

According to the AP, “There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries, and apart from a heightened security presence, traffic and ordinary life appeared to be proceeding as normal at 2:30 in the afternoon.”

NPR’s Anthony Kuhn reports from the embassy that visa applicants were still lining up outside.

The U.S. and China are in the midst of a heated trade dispute, but America remains a popular destination for Chinese tourists.

The U.S. Embassy is adjacent to the Indian Embassy. Journalist Aditya Raj Kaul tweeted that he had spoken to India’s Ambassador to China, Gautam Bambawle, who said there were “no fatalities” and described it as “a low intensity blast.”

“All Indians are safe,” Bambawle reportedly said.

This is a developing story. Some things reported by the media will later turn out to be wrong. We will focus on reports from police officials and other authorities, credible news outlets and reporters who are at the scene. We will update as the situation develops.