Dozens of people were killed in Zhuhai, China, when a driver rammed a car into a crowd before a military parade, police said.
Bangkok – A driver killed 35 people and seriously injured 43 others when he deliberately crashed his car into people exercising at a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, police said on Tuesday. Police arrested a 62-year-old man at a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai following an incident on Monday, the eve of the People’s Liberation Army’s annual national air show in the city.
The police identified the man only by his last name of Fan, in accordance with the practice of the authorities China.
Fan was found in the car with a knife, with wounds to the neck believed to be self-inflicted, according to the statement. He is unconscious and receiving medical attention.
He was dissatisfied with the division of financial assets in his divorce, according to the preliminary investigation, police said.
There was a review of information about the incident given the time and place before the military parade, and officials announced the death toll the next day.
One of the four hospitals that treated people said they had more than 20 injured people, state media reported on Monday.
Police identified the man only by his surname Fan, which is in line with the practice of Chinese authorities. A police statement said the car hit “several” pedestrians on Monday evening.
President Xi Jinping called in a statement on Tuesday for the driver to be punished in accordance with Chinese law.
A man at the emergency clinic at Shang Chong Hospital in Zhuhai said they found people with minor injuries and most of them left after treatment. The Zhuhai People’s Hospital said it has received injuries, but there are no casualties. Calls to the People’s Hospital of Xiangzhou District and the Third People’s Hospital of Zhuhai were not answered.
Videos show a firefighter performing CPR on a man as people were told to leave the scene Monday night. They were shared by news blogger and activist Li Ying, better known on X as Teacher Li. His account posts daily news based on user posts. Dozens of people were sleeping watching the track at the sports center in the videos. In one, a woman is heard saying “her foot is broken.”
As of Tuesday morning, the search for information about the incident on Chinese social media was still under intense scrutiny. A search on Weibo, like X, of the sports center revealed only a few posts, only a couple referring to the fact that something happened there, and no pictures or details. Chinese media articles about Monday night’s incident have been taken down.
China’s internet censors take extra care to scour social media before and during major events, such as the National People’s Congress, when the government announces its major policy plans for the coming year.
The sports center of Xiangzhou city district often attracts hundreds of residents to run on the stadium, play football and dance. After this incident, the center announced that it will be closed until further notice.
China has seen many attacks where suspects appear to target random people, including school children. In October, a 50-year-old man was arrested after allegedly using a knife to attack children at a school in Beijing. Five people were injured. In September, three people were killed in a knife attack at a Shanghai supermarket.
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