Blast near Indian embassy in Beijing, suspected female suicide bomber arrested

BEIJING: An explosion was reported near the Indian Embassy in the Chinese capital Beijing on Thursday. However, no casualties were reported due to the incident.
Though there are no reports of fatalities or injury at the moment, the visuals of the incident shared by some people on social media show cops and possibly a body covered by a blanket, lying on the ground.
The source further said that the Chinese authorities are investigating the matter.
There was no harm to Indian Embassy or any of its staff, the source said.
The nature of the blast is still not clear.
According to Radio Free Asia online news, a man attempted to throw a homemade bomb into the gated compound of the embassy, but the device went off earlier than planned.
The blast caused panic and injured a number of people, the news portal said.
Amid reports of the blast, China’s state-run Global Times cited witnesses claiming that a woman sprayed gasoline on herself in a suspected self-immolation attempt.
Police took her away, but it is not yet clear if the incident is related to the suspected explosion, according to the Global Times.
The Beijing Police is also said to be examining a vehicle parked outside the US Embassy in connection with the blast, according to Reuters.
However, there has been no official word from neither the Chinese nor the American officials regarding the blast.
This is possibly the first blast in China since August 2015.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)