Beijing: An American tourist was killed and another injured when a Chinese man attacked them at an historic monument in Beijing on Saturday, the first full day of Olympic competition, authorities said.
The man attacked the two Americans as well as their Chinese guide at the Drum Tower monument, a popular tourist site in the centre of the city, at 12:20 pm (0420 GMT), the official Xinhua news agency reported.
One tourist was killed and the other two people, both female, were injured, said Xinhua. The assailant then committed suicide by jumping off the second story of the monument, according to the agency.
The report gave no details as to the nature of the attack, or the motive.
A Beijing police spokesman confirmed to AFP an American tourist had been killed and the other two had been injured, but gave no further details.
Xinhua identified the attacker as Tang Yongming, a 47-year-old man from the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
The attack occurred despite China deploying massive security in Beijing for the Olympics, with more than 150,000 police and other personnel on patrol across the city.
An estimated 450,000 foreigners are expected to come to Beijing for the Olympics, which opened on Friday night and will finish on August 24.
The killing also occurred as US President George W Bush was in the city to attend the Games. Bush was due to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao on Sunday.
Acts of violence against foreigners in Beijing and throughout China are extremely rare, with expatriates happy to wander around the streets of the capital late at night.
But Chinese authorities have been clearly on edge over security in the lead-up to the Olympics, warning of a wide range of threats to people coming to Beijing for the event.
China has expressed most concern about Islamic terrorists trying to wreck the Games, and Chinese authorities said militants attacked and killed 16 policemen in the Muslim-populated far northwest of the country last week.
There was no indication that Saturday's incident had anything to with terrorism.
A US embassy spokesman, Richard Buangan, said he was aware of the report but could give no details.
"I can tell you that we are working with the family and the Chinese authorities while we speak," Buangan said, declining to comment further.
The Drum Tower is in the historic heart of Beijing. Together with the Bell Tower, the sites were once used for banging of drums and bells to tell time.
Now the Drum and Bell towers are tourist sites, with visitors able to stroll from them to the city's famed old lakes and other historic areas.
Police had closed off the Drum Tower on Saturday afternoon following the incident.
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