SHANGHAI – A Chinese man who became obsessed with the Hollywood doomsday blockbuster "2012" was jailed for two years after threatening to blow up a Shanghai skyscraper unless officials listened to his end-of-the-world predictions.
The 23 year old, surnamed Yin, strapped a fake bomb to his body in March and made his way to the top of the 88-story Jin Mao tower -- the world's 13th tallest building, the Shanghai Daily newspaper reported Monday.
Brandishing a knife in one hand and talking on a cell phone with the other, Yin threatened to blow himself up and destroy the building unless police allowed him to meet the city's top government officials to warn them about the coming cataclysm.
He repeatedly shouted "The earth is going to be destroyed," before being talked into surrendering more than an hour later.
A court heard that he became a believer in 2012 doomsday predictions after watching the movie "2012" while working in a restaurant.
Yin said, "I want more people to know that the earth will be destroyed in 2012, so they still have time to build shelters to save more lives."
Yin was jailed on charges of possessing dangerous objects, the newspaper said.
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