China says suspect in explosions died in blasts

The main suspect in this week’s south China blasts – which killed ten people and injured 51 more – was killed himself in the explosions, police have announced. No other suspects have been named.

It is unclear whether Wei was the same suspect surnamed Wei that police earlier said they had arrested on Wednesday.

Sources say that Wei had become increasingly withdrawn by the latter half of 2014, with the local government dragging its heels over intervening. “I don’t accept the accusations”, he said.

China News Service reported Cai Tianlai, a senior police officer, as saying that a total of 60 suspicious parcels had been identified through tipoffs from local people.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, the explosions are criminal acts.

The packages were placed in an isolation area, where experts disarmed them and began further investigations, he said. The local branch of China Post has also postponed the delivery of all mail until Saturday.

More than a dozen package bombs were sent to locations such as shopping malls, hospitals and government buildings in Liuzhou, a city in the province of Guangxi.

Dai Peng, Director of the Criminal Investigation College at the People’s Public Security University of China, told China Daily the act was meant to disrupt one of China’s two annual week-long holidays.

Wei hailed from Dapu township, and was a former employee of a quarry in Liucheng county.

Liuzhou Police used Sina Weibo, a microblogging website, to warn the public about odd parcels delivered via unofficial channels.

In fact, Ren said he had been buying the explosives and storing them at home for the last decade without any problems, though he seemed to have no violent intent.