Beijing says bus security tightened after blasts
BEIJING (AFP) — China has tightened security on buses in Olympic host city Beijing following a pair of deadly explosions on public buses in the country's southwest, the Games' top security official said Wednesday.
"We have already taken measures and we will increase security. I hope that all people can support us," Liu Shaowu, Beijing Olympic security director, told reporters.
"We need to step up security measures in all areas for the safety of the bus system," he said.
Liu, who gave no other details, had been asked what impact Monday's mysterious bus explosions in the city of Kunming, which killed two people and wounded 14 others, would have on the Beijing Games.
The as-yet unexplained blasts in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, have added to security fears ahead of the Olympics because they followed repeated government warnings that terrorists were planning to attack the Beijing Games.
Authorities have provided few other details about the explosions, other than saying they were set off deliberately and were acts of "sabotage".
China's foreign ministry said Tuesday authorities had yet to find any evidence of a link between the August 8-24 Games and the blasts in Kunming, which is 2,100 kilometres (1,300 miles) southwest of Beijing.
Kunming's top police official Du Min also said on Tuesday there was no indication of involvement by terrorist groups or forces seeking Tibetan independence, according to state media reports.
On Wednesday, police tripled the reward offered for any information leading to arrests in the case to 300,000 yuan (about 44,000 dollars), according to a Yunnan police statement.
The statement said police were specifically seeking witnesses who may have seen a passenger carrying a brown tote bag on the first bus.
It gave no other details.
"We haven't got any new updates on the case," a spokeswoman for the Kunming police told AFP by phone.
China has particularly warned of possible attacks on the Olympics by Muslims in the nation's far northwest Xinjiang region and Buddhists in Tibet, where Beijing has cracked down on anti-Chinese violence that erupted in March.
