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Intruder in Reuters Beijing bureau captured
A man who said he had a bomb burst into Reuters news bureau in Beijing Wednesday morning, but four hours later when police captured him, his bag was found to contain no explosives, and the
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event proved to be a hoax.
Earlier, the man police called Fang Qinghui, held a number of Reuter journalists for about two hours before releasing them all unharmed.
The intruder, reported in his 30s, had demanded to be interviewed on camera about his grievances. His intrusion caused police to evacuate the whole building where Reuters Beijing Office located.
When the event erupted, China Daily reporters saw two local police marksmen with submachine guns marching into the building, and hundreds of workers have been evacuated.
The man, wearing dark glasses and carrying a bag trailing wires, barged his way into the sixth-floor office at around 10:30 am (0230 GMT), shoving Reuters staff around and shouting "no one move! no one move!", a Reuter report said.
Most journalists and office staff managed to escape. The man finally allowed four remaining Reuters staff in the room to leave as a group of about 20 police officers in flak jackets gathered outside the main doors of the Shengfu Mansion, in Beijing's Chaoyang District.
The intruder said he was a former driver from a steel factory in northern Heilongjiang province and had been unemployed for five to six years. As the man asked for coverage of his grievances before television, he kept his thumb pressed to a red button attached to what looked like a telephone cord running into the bag.
The visibly agitated Fang had visited the office earlier in the day and spoken to a Reuters correspondent for about 20 minutes. He had refused to leave but then fled when security guards were called, according to Reuters.
After he returned, the black bag slung around his neck, police sealed off the area with yellow tape. Hundreds of evacuees gathered in the parking lot of a nearby flower market. At least four red fire trucks were on standby outside.
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Updated: 2003-03-13 01:00
