Wang Wei, a senior official of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG,) told journalists at Tuesday’s daily joint briefing of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Chinese Organizing Committee that the increased security measures were because of the stabbing death of American tourist Todd Bachman.
On August 8, while visiting a popular Beijing tourist site the first day of the Games, American businessman Todd Bachman was attacked and killed; his wife Barbara and their Chinese tour guide were critically injured.
Days later, several bombs exploded in supermarkets, government buildings and hotels in Aksu Prefecture, Kuqa County in China’s northwest Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, these attacks occurring despite Beijing spending $12 billion on security.
As a result, event organizers increased security measures at major tourist locations and installed security screenings at Olympics venues, while also placing snipers at the gates to the athlete’s village and stationing an armored tank in front of the Main Media Center.
