JALANDHAR – A six-year-old Indian boy was rushed to hospital with serious burn injuries after his father dropped him on hot coals during a Hindu ritual, a doctor said Monday (June 13).

The father was walking barefoot with his son Kartik in his arms on the red-hot embers when he lost his balance and fell during the ritual on Sunday, an AFP photographer at the scene said.

Bystanders rushed to the rescue and took Kartik to hospital after other family members refused to accompany him, saying they had faith in God to heal him.

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

AFP

“The boy was admitted last (Sunday) night in the emergency ward. He has burn injuries on his limbs and on one side of his trunk,” doctor Jangpreet Singh told AFP.

“The father has also sustained about 15 per cent burns. I think it will take at least five to seven days for their wounds to heal.”

In one of the pictures Kartik, wearing marigold garlands and a white vest, can be seen screaming in pain as those around him try to pull him out.

Around 600 devotees had gathered in Jalandhar city in northern Punjab state for a festival in honour of the goddess Maa Maariamma.

Devotees must fast for seven days before walking on the burning coals in the ancient Hindu practice aimed at appeasing the deity.

Three years ago a mother carrying her daughter slipped and fell on the hot surface, also during the Jalandhar ritual.

A number of Chinese actors were stranded in Shanghai after the bombing incident at Pudong airport yesterday afternoon (Sunday).

Many celebrities had flown earlier to the city to attend the opening of Shanghai International Film Festival. Some were delayed at the airport before they could return home or journey to their next destination, reported Lianhe Wanbao.

Hong Kong actor Julian Cheng and actress Ada Choi were at the airport when the blast occurred after a 29-year-old man with heavy debts from online gambling threw a beer bottle packed with explosives near a check-in counter in Terminal Two.

Fortunately, the two were unhurt as they were not near the scene. Both managed to catch a flight back to Hong Kong last night.

Choi broke into smiles when she was met at the airport by her husband Zhang Jin, the media reported.

Hong Kong actor Bowie Lam was also at the airport during the incident but he escaped the ordeal as he was already boarding a departing flight.

Actor Chow Yuen Fat and his wife, who was supposed to leave yesterday, decided to remain at a hotel to avoid any inconvenience at the airport. They changed their flights to depart today.

In the airport incident, the suspect slashed his own neck after hurling his homemade explosive, injuring four people. A few flights were affected as the blast disrupted the check-in area.

The airport later returned to normal operation.

chenj@sph.com.sg

Blast from “suspected homemade explosives” rocks Shanghai airport

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

Sina Weibo

Shanghai – Chinese police on Monday identified the suspect in a bombing at Shanghai’s main international airport which injured four people as a 29-year-old man with heavy debts from online gambling.

Zhou Xingbai had been working at an electronics company in Kunshan city near Shanghai but had lost his savings through gambling and was having difficulty supporting himself, the Shanghai police department said in a statement on its official microblog.

Zhou told his friends through social media that he “owed many people money” and was “preparing to do something extremely crazy” and “losing his little life was a certainty”, the statement said.

A previous government statement said Zhou threw a beer bottle packed with explosives near a check-in counter in Terminal Two at Pudong International Airport on Sunday afternoon.

He then took out a knife and slashed at his own neck before being admitted to hospital in critical condition.

Blast from “suspected homemade explosives” rocks Shanghai airport

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

Sina Weibo

Police said he used gunpowder from fireworks in his home-made explosive device, residue of which was found in his rented room in Kunshan.

“A beer bottle with a burning fuse rolled into the queue when we were waiting for check-in,” passenger Susan Shen was quoted as saying by the Shanghai Daily newspaper.

“And then suddenly the bottle exploded with a loud bang and colourful flash like fireworks.”

Zhou, originally from the southwestern province of Guizhou, had a high-school education and worked at various jobs before arriving in Kunshan in 2014, police said.

There have been several cases in China of disgruntled individuals setting off explosions or starting fires in revenge for perceived wrongs.

In 2013 a wheelchair-bound man detonated a homemade bomb at Beijing international airport as a protest at alleged police brutality.

The man, Ji Zhongxing, was later sentenced to six years in jail.

Last year an unemployed man set off an explosion at a public park in the eastern province of Shandong, killing himself and another person and wounding 24.