Bomb-disposal expert dices with death

Before each mission, Yan Qun takes a picture of himself, and then deletes it when the bomb is defused. To date, he has taken 278 of these "just in case" pictures.

Yan, 41, is deputy head of the bomb-disposal squad of the fifth detachment of the Beijing Public Security Bureau's counterterrorism department. He has disassembled 27 explosive devices by hand in his 23-year career.

"It's like an exciting scene from a thrilling movie, but without a script. The work is fraught with uncertainty and you can never rehearse," he said.