Explosions on buses kill 3 in Chinese city

Explosions this morning in the southern Chinese city of Kunming killed at least three people and injured 13 in what appears to have been a coordinated terrorist attack.

One explosion at 7:05 a.m. on a commuter bus was followed by another an hour later on a bus downtown.

There were unconfirmed reports in Chinese state media that a third explosion had occurred.

Passengers on the second bus told a local newspaper, Life Daily News, that they saw two men leave an unidentified object on board.

“Later two men got off the bus, then it exploded. One-third of the bus was seriously damaged. The fire wasn’t very big, but the smoke was dense and there were strong odors,” the newspaper reported. One person was killed in the second bus explosion, and two in the earlier one.

An explosion on a bus in Shanghai in May killed three people in an attack that Chinese authorities blamed on a passenger carrying flammable liquids. Few public details have been released about the incident. Terrorist attacks are relatively rare in China.

Authorities have announced in recent months roundups of Islamic separatists who they say planned to disrupt the Beijing Olympics.