Pudong Airport Bombing: An Eyewitness Account

By Virginia Werner

That’s Shanghai was able to interview a traveler who was caught up in the Pudong International Airport T2 explosions yesterday. He declined to be named, but was willing to share some details of the incident.

"We were standing in the line for Philippine Airlines in Aisle C at approximately 2.30pm yesterday. We suddenly saw a group of people running towards us, and saw a beer bottle – it was a large Tsingtao that appeared to be filled with black explosive powder – rolling towards us with a lit fuse.

"Shortly after, two bombs went off very close together, the first one from where the people were running from and the second quite close to us - my bag sustained burns. We started running.

The traveler's burned bag

"Shortly after the explosion, the man that released the beer bottles pulled out a knife and started waving it around. He was yelling and going crazy but I couldn't understand what he was saying.

"A customer pushed a baggage trolley into him, and the man responded by cutting his own throat.

"We waited for what felt like a long time before there was any response from anyone at the airport. Nobody was asked if they were okay.

"They arrived maybe an hour or more after. The response time was absolutely pathetic, to be honest. There was no plan, no strategy and nobody knew what to do. It was very poorly planned and poorly executed.

"The area was partially roped off, and security tried to push people back, but many stood around and took video footage on tablets, cell phones, etc.

"There was no evacuation. If it had been a properly planned, serious bombing, lots of people could have been hurt badly.

"Meanwhile, the man who had cut his own throat lay on the ground for a while before eventually being moved onto a gurney. It took around 20 minutes before medical care professionals arrived and began treating him. He was the only one taken away in a gurney."

The number of people injured has risen to five and both Pudong and Hongqiao Airports have raised security measures, click "Read more" below to read the latest updates.

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