Man in connection with 'bus bomb' hoax detained

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-28 19:21

FUZHOU - Police in the east China city of Fuzhou have detained a man for allegedly making a hoax call claiming a bomb had been planted on a bus, the city public security bureau announced on Monday.

The Fuzhou public transport company called the police at about 7 pm on Saturday, reporting that someone had claimed to have placed a bomb on a bus on route 949, said Liu Ming, vice director of the bureau political department.

Police rushed to the site and searched the bus Yu pointed in the call, but found nothing suspicious. Liu gave no more details.

After an investigation, they found the suspect, a man surnamed Yu, at a construction site on Sunday afternoon.

Yu allegedly confessed during interrogation that his foot had been caught in the door of a 949 bus, and he believed the driver had done it intentionally.

He allegedly called the public transport company at a sidewalk telephone kiosk, claiming that he had put a bomb on the bus.

Police warned that anyone making hoax emergency calls would be prosecuted.

Explosions on two public transport buses in Kunming, Yunnan Province, on July 21 left two people dead and 14 injured. One of the injured is still being treated in intensive care in hospital.

A group calling itself the Turkestan Mujahaddin on Saturday claimed responsibility, but police say they have no evidence the group was involved.