Thwarted terrorism attempt in China

The of China’s Civil Aviation Authority has made a statement that a man has been detained and is now held in custody after a suspected terrorist attempt in the city of Urmqi, in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang. China Southern Airlines CZ6901 was set to fly to Beijing, when the man apparently made an attempt to set fire to the plane and crash it while in the air.

There are scant details as to what exactly happened aboard the plane or what kind of ‘suspicious liquid’ the perpetrator was carrying to launch his campaign. But they did say after the plane was diverted to Lanhzou, there were no reported injuries to any of the plane’s passengers.

At least one man was arrested, but scattered reports point to other suspects as well, one of which is a 19-year old female belonging to the Uighur ethnic group, which makes up a large part of Xinjiang’s Muslim community.

This kind of thing makes many uneasy with the Olympic Games coming up in Beijing, and other airports are sure to tighten their security measures as well after this event.