Suicide Bomber in Wuxi?

From Status of Chinese People, comes this entry:

By Yizhen Jiangu, The Epoch Times, Nov 16, 2007-

On October 22, an explosion occurred in Wuxi city, Jiangsu province. However, there were two totally different reports about the incident: one published on an official communist party website and one posted on a BBS.

The two reports clearly show the level of media censorship in mainland China.

The communist party version:

Taihu Mingzhu net reported—At 10:15 a.m., October 22, a homemade bomb exploded and wounded people in Wuxi. According to the investigation, Xu Guoxin, a resident in room 102, No. 38 Helie Street, Wuxi, had a dispute with neighborhood office staff regarding the termination of electricity to his home on October 21. The local Police Station quickly sent officers to handle the incident. During the dispute, the bomb that Xu was carrying exploded, seriously wounding police officer Wang and injuring Xu’s right arm. They were sent to The No. 4 Wuxi Municipal People’s Hospital for emergency treatment.

The BBS version submitted by Nu Hai:

At about 10:00 a.m. October 22, 2007, a suicide bombing occurred in the demolition project office of Wanda Commercial Plaza in Wuxi. A police officer died and the bomber’s right arm was blown off.

Sources revealed that the bomber, Xu Guoxin, 48, and a resident at room 102, No 38 Helie Street had tried several times to prevent the pending demolition of his home by a demolition company located in Helie of the City government. The company was not willing to negotiate with Xu and even hired thugs to beat him up, which caused Xu to suffer physically and mentally. However, the Helie police station refused to investigate the beating when Xu reported it.

On the morning of October 22, Xu reported to the power company electrical power to his home had been terminated. When an electrician investigated, he concluded that the electrical line had been purposefully damaged. Xu went to the demolition company, but once again he was beaten by a group of people and locked up in the company’s office.

Xu eventually escaped and reported what had occurred to the Helie Police Station; but again, the police refused to register the case. In his indignation, Xu returned to the demolition company office, this time carrying a homemade bomb at around 9:30 a.m. The group beat him again. Meanwhile, the company called the police. Police officer Wang Jianfeng and another civilian police officer arrived within a few minutes. When officer Wang reached for the bomb on Xu, it went off.

Wang sustained severe injuries to his abdomen and Xu had lost an arm. An ambulance took 25 minutes to arrive, and transported the two injured people to the 4th Wuxi Municipal People’s Hospital. The 32-year-old Wang Jianfeng died on the way to the hospital, leaving behind a 5-year-old son.

According to local residents, Xu had been unstable after his girlfriend broke up with him because he was unable to get an apartment from his work unit.

On the night of October 22, the official report concealed that the incident was caused by a pending demolition of Xu’s home, and changed the “City government demolition company” to an unspecified “neighborhood-related department.”