2027 Shanghai attack

On 21 June 2027, **a serious explosion at the Hongkou District (虹口区)** in Shanghai, China, caused the collapse of the Sinar Mas Center, heavy casualties and severe damages in the North Bund and economic loss to China, it's also sparked a month-long rebellion. According to the goverment's report, 1,750 people killed, 4,800 people injured, and 860 people missing. Lots of buildings in the North Bund were also damaged or destroyed.

More than fifty thousand people have been left homeless due to mass evacuations. The major devastation of the attack threw Shanghai into chaos. The China government officials have never stated the cause. The explosion on the Sinar Mas Center, which was the seveal explosion of C-4 explosives placed on floors 63-65, causing structural damage. Some sodium dithionite burned and exploded under the automatic fire suppression system, causing the building's structure to failure and fire spread. The building was eventually destroyed due to the progressive collapse.

Activists have questioned the official report. They believe that there are more than 2,000 dead, 6,000 injured, and 1,250 missing. Anyway, since they couldn't provide any evidence, it's just fell through.

No one knows how the explosives were brought to Shanghai, except only knowing that they are from outside China. The attack was widely regarded as a terrorist attack and became the deadliest terrorist attack in the world since September 11 attack, in 2001.

## Background

The North Bund, or Beiwantan (北外滩), is a dense and busy business district, the International Cruise Terminal is located here.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Niesmiertelni has attacked most countries in the world, mostly involving explosives. However, they have not attacked China.

## Explosions

### Fire and the first explosion

At around 07:30 local time (23:30 UTC) on June 21, 2027, multiple explosions occurred on the 63rd to 65th floors of the Sinar Mas Center, which were determined to be C-4 explosives. The explosion broke several load-bearing columns, and the stairwells from the 62nd to the 66th floors were severely damaged. Some debris fell through the elevator shaft to the position below the 50th floor, and they then began to spontaneously ignite due to their high temperature.

Sodium hydrosulfite powder, placed above the 60th floor, drifted away in the explosion, after which smoke and fire from the debris triggered an automatic fire suppression system. The powder ignited, causing a larger explosion. This series of large explosions was catastrophic, destroying the structural integrity of the building. Within twenty minutes, the fire spread to floors 48-49, 52-57, 58, and 60. Many burning fragments fell, hitting the mall and roads on the ground.

Intense fires and crumbling structures hampered firefighters' plans to go upstairs to search for survivors. The smoke and updraft from the burning of the building were even more difficult for firefighting helicopters to approach. Instead, police and firefighters began evacuating all citizens within a specific radius, first responders moved the immobile wounded as much as possible.

### Collapse of the Sinar Mas Center

At around 08:00 (00:00 UTC), Another explosion on the 61st floor, possibly caused by backdrafts from some rooms collapsed. This further damaged the fragile building structure, and eventually the entire 61st floor failed, with the stroies above crushing the floors below. The building collapsed in less than ten seconds.

A large amount of heavy debris destroyed the mall, some of which fell on other buildings. The collapse also damaged a nearby metro station, which was closed and no one was in the metro. Debris blocked East Changzhi Road, and many cars and people who were too late to leave were buried.

Lujiazui and Huangpu District were also affected by the collapse. . A large number of dust clouds and toxic gases from the collapse enveloped half of the Hongkou District. Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said air quality in the city had become very bad, the air quality index climbed sharply to 459. Dust, smoke and toxic gases dissipated after staying at the collapse site for 35 days. The air quality in Shanghai has fully recovered.

## Aftermath

### Public transport

The streets in the North Bund was covered in dust and debris, and power outages caused traffic light disabled. People and residents in the south of Zhoujiazui Road, west of Gongping Road, and east of Wusong Road were asked to evacuate immediately, and police stopped pedestrians from entering the North Bund. With the closure of Metro Line 12, roads are blocked and a ferry station is closed. Those who evacuated could only leave the North Bund on foot. From June 22 to 26, pedestrians and vehicles were banned in the evacuation zone.

#### Highways, elevated roads and tunnels

All highways were closed for three hours after the attack. Government lifted the ban as traffic grew rapidly. Xinjian Road Tunnel was completely flooded, but no one was killed. The Bund Tunnel was closed for more than eight hours. The northern exit, Changzhi Road exit was blocked by debris, it recovered after two months.

#### Railways

After the attack, most railway stations in Shanghai were no longer allowed to enter. Passengers can only left the station. Later, stations were closed completely. Trains were either canceled, delayed or changed terminals. On June 25, all stations reopened.

#### Shanghai Metro

Three minutes within the Sinar Mas Center explosion, International Cruise Terminal station and Tilanqiao station of metro Line 12 were closed in an emergency, passengers were only allowed to leave the stations. Other trains no longer stopped at these two stations. All remaining Shanghai Metro service was suspended from 08:25 to 09:37. Some trains operating within the metro system are emptied of passengers at the nearest station and returned empty to the depots, which reduced the capacity of each metro line. Next, all remaining trains operating online are rerouted to return to depots after cleared passengers at the terminal station. From 13:22, Shentong Metro Group began to use rail motor cars to connect the trains of Line 10 that had lost power, brought them back to the depot one by one.

Due to the morning rush hour for commuting, closure measures have created a serious backlog of passengers. Some passengers were dissatisfied, with some either demanding refunds or refusing to leave the station.

Collapse destroyed part of the city's power supply system, Line 10 lost power. Train 100011, 10025, 10037, 10048 and 10060 stopped in tunnels. Passengers must leave the train on foot and evacuate to the stations.

The International Cruise Terminal station is badly damaged and must be repaired. Track beds broke at various points in the tunnel towards Tiantong Road station. Flooding at Tilanqiao station. Even part of East Changzhi Road has settled. Service from Tiantong Road station to Jinhai Road station has been suspended as only Jufeng Road station and Jinhai Road station are available for switchback. Suspended services resume on November 30, 2027, with the two damaged stations until January 31, 2028.

Construction of Lines 19 and Line 20 in the Hongkou District has been terminated. Construtcion of Tilanqiao station on Line 19 was ordered to stop due to potential settlement problems. On October 7, all construction works resumed.

#### Bus and ferry

Several bus stops on East Changzhi Road and East Daming Road were closed. Gongping Road ferry is also closed. All bus routes passing through these stations were diverted until September 30.

#### Shanghai Suburban Railway

Services on the Jinshan Railway, Airport Link line and Nanhui Branch line stopped at 12:10 for the day.

### Aviation and shipping

Hongqiao International Airport and Pudong International Airport were closed immediately after the Sinar Mas Center collapsed. Afterwards, China's airspace was closed until 10:00, only police or military aircraft could fly. Flights that have already taken off are required to land in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan or Thailand. Shanghai's airport resumed use as airspace reopened.

International Cruise Terminal closed until June 30. In order to avoid a huge impact on global shipping, the Ports of Shanghai continues to operate. Debris destroyed all cargo ships and ferries on the nearby Huangpu River, coast guards tried to rescue the occupants of the wrecked boats.

### Communication

After the attack, telecommunications network in Shanghai collapsed rapidly due to a mass call event. The devastation caused by the explosions, mobile network traffic is several times higher than usual. 40% fewer base stations in normal operation. The city's 5G and 4G communication networks were down for several days.

### Economy

Companies with offices in the North Bund suffered significant losses including staff, cash, documents and data. The attack affected more than 20,000 small businesses and self-employed individuals, which either closed down or left Shanghai. These further deepened Shanghai's economic recession.

Many insurance companies suffered huge losses. A total of 40 billion CNY in compensation is required.

After the explosion on Sinar Mas Center, Shanghai Stock Exchange canceled trading for the day. At 12:35, Shenzhen Stock Exchange also canceled trading due to the security reasons. The SSE and SZSE remained closed until the following Monday. At last, the Chinese stock market fell sharply with a 6.7% drop.

### Hazards

The 1,200 cars parked at the Sinar Mas Center are at risk because they are buried three or four stories below, about 800 use fuel. Once recovery workers reached down to the parking garage level after 4 days, they found some cars that had exploded and burned.

### Rescue

Rescue teams found 34 survivors at the collapse site. A female tabby cat and three newborn kittens were also found alive.

## Outcomes

*More info: 2027-2028 Shanghai conflicts*

The State Council of the PRC formed a team to investigate the attack. Ministry of State Security said it was caused by an "unnamed stateless person" who also claimed "unlawful possession of weapons" but never released further details. This sparked public suspicion and outrage. The Shanghai Government has declared a state of emergency in Shanghai, which will last until August 2028.

This attack indirectly led to an armed insurgency starting in July 2027. Rebels have occupied the disaster area for nearly a month, resulting in the deaths of more survivors and property damage.In the chaos after the explosions, a large number of weapons stored in the army and police station went missing. UN Security Council warned that the large number of missing weapons "would raise the risk of social instability".

More than five million people left Shanghai as or near refugees to other cities in China - Hangzhou, Suzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing, etc. Another 3,000 people attempted to leave China. UNHCR warns, an unprecedented refugee crisis is imminent.

On August 3rd, the rescue team found a intact W54 nuclear warhead at the site. The detonator is broken. FSB investigated and said it was not Niesmiertelni's because "they were not capable of obtaining a Cold War-era US-made nuclear warhead". Multiple intelligence agencies, including the CIA and MI6, believed that "someone else" was behind it.

## See also

* September 11 attacks
* 1993 WTC bombing
* Domestic terrorism
* 2010 Shanghai fire
* 2014 Shanghai stampede