新京报/The Beijing News is reporting a bomb scare on the No. 47 bus at its terminus by Haidian Bridge at about 3 yesterday afternoon. A suspicious- meaning unaccompanied and unclaimed- case was left on the bus, and so the police were called, a cordon set up, and the public removed from the scene. After an investigation, they discovered that it contained tools for repairing air conditioners.
And so I have this message for all the dumb-arses living in or visiting Beijing: Take your stuff with you when you get off the bus (or train, or whatever). Don’t leave it behind. The police take their role as guardians of public security seriously– and rightly so, I mean, it is their job- and with the Olympics coming up and that bus fire down in Shanghai and that 5 kg can of petrol found in a cultural heritage site, it’s only natural to assume that a package abandoned on a bus (or subway train or any public space) might, perhaps, contain something a little more dangerous than tools. So don’t leave stuff behind. Take it with you.
