Market attacked with fire bombs

Police have arrested a man in his 50s for throwing four Molotov cocktails in a crowded building at the popular Qipu Road clothing market in Hongkou district Saturday afternoon.

The unidentified suspect began tossing the homemade fire bombs inside Shanghai Xingwang International Fashion Emporium, a major clothing market in the area, around 4:50 pm, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau reported in a microblog post.

He threw the first Molotov cocktail, a brown beer bottle filled with gasoline, at the building's east entrance on Jiangxi Road North, according to a report in the Oriental Morning Post.

Building security guards carrying fire extinguishers followed the suspect as he moved around the building, putting out the fires as soon as they started, the report said. The suspect threw a second bottle as he moved to the building's west entrance on Henan Road North. He then threw two more bottles in the basement.

A witness said that the suspect seemed composed while he walked around the building throwing the bottles, even as the people around him ran away screaming, the report said. One security guard tackled the suspect and held him down while he was trying to light another bottle.

Police officers were dispatched to the scene and restrained the suspect, according to the microblog post. No one was hurt.

The suspect did not throw the bottles at the shops that lined both sides of the building's hallway or at the people inside, said Cui Shuncheng, a press officer from the Hongkou District Public Security Bureau. None of the market's shops caught fire.

A manager from the building told the Global Times that the basement reopened to customers Sunday.

Police have yet to determine why the man attacked the market. "The suspect is in his 50s and does not run a business in the market. Officers are still interrogating him to determine his motive," Cui told the Global Times.

Microblog users posted photos showing huge crowds standing outside of the building. Unused Molotov cocktails were also found at the scene.

The Shanghai Evening Post reported that the suspect was also carrying a tank of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).