The police are investigating the cause of a suicide bombing which injured a judge in Guangyuan, the northernmost city in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The bombing, which was masterminded by an elderly handicapped man, took place on Wednesday morning in an office on the fifth floor of the 12-storey Guangyuan Intermediate People's Court. The blast shattered windowpanes.

The glass pieces covered an area of more than 200 square metres in the street in front of the building, eyewitnesses said.

"I heard a loud 'bang' as I was passing the street. I looked up and saw broken pieces of blue glass from the window of the court building raining down like hailstones. I had to flee to a small restaurant," said Hu Chao, a public servant in the Guangyuan municipal government.

Soon after, the judge with blood on his face was taken by ambulance to the Guangyuan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

"He was able to move his hands and legs when he left the building," said a grocery store owner near the building.

Wang Youqin, the injured judge, suffered deep cuts on his face but was lucky to escape further injury. Wang, 55, is a senior judge in Guangyuan who tries cases involving contract disputes.

Police have refused to comment on why the suicide bombing took place in his office.

Police found in his office the dead body of a one-legged man who looked about 60. Police believe the man detonated the bomb but have refused to reveal his identity.

A surveillance camera in the building recorded the man entering the office, a source from the local police said.

The explosion apparently did not cause major damage, since staff contacted by telephone said they had been told to report to work as usual.

(China Daily April 7, 2006)