Man sentenced to 8 years for Shanghai airport blast

SHANGHAI - A man was sentenced to eight years in prison for setting off two homemade explosive devices in Shanghai Pudong International Airport in June 2016, a court in Shanghai announced Friday.

Shanghai No 3 Intermediate People's Court handed down the sentence to Zhou Xingbai and also stripped his political rights for two years.

The court found that Zhou formed the idea of setting off bombs at the airport and ending his own life in May 2016, due to dissatisfaction with his personal life.

Zhou set off two homemade explosive devices in beer bottles at a check-in counter in Terminal 2 at around 2:30 pm on June 12, 2016. Three passengers were slightly injured by flying glass, and a few flights were affected.

He cut his own throat with a knife at the airport, but was taken to hospital for medical treatment.

On his WeChat account, he wrote that he owed many people money and was going to do something "very crazy."

Zhou has no mental illness and should take full criminal responsibility for his actions, according to the court.