Bangkok – Police in China say 35 people were killed and another 43 injured when a driver rammed his car into people training at a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai. The 62-year-old driver has been arrested, police said on Monday. It was not immediately clear whether it was an attack or an accident. No motive was given and police said the investigation was continuing.
The incident on Monday evening took place on the eve of the country’s main aviation exhibition organized by the People’s Liberation Army, which is held annually in Zhuhai. There has been heavy censorship of information about the incident given its timing and location, with officials not announcing the death toll until the following day. One of four hospitals admitting people for treatment said more than 20 were injured, state media reported Monday.
Police identified the man only by his surname Fan, in line with Chinese authorities’ practice. According to police, the car hit ‘a number’ of 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 of Shang Chong Hospital in Zhuhai said they had received some slightly injured people and most of them left after treatment. The Zhuhai People’s Hospital said there had been injuries but did not report a large number of casualties. Calls to Xiangzhou District People’s Hospital and Zhuhai Third People’s Hospital went unanswered.
Video footage showed a firefighter performing CPR on a person as people were told to leave the scene Monday evening. They were shared by news blogger and dissident Li Ying, better known on X as Teacher Li. His account posts daily news based on user submissions. The video footage showed dozens of people lying on the athletics track of the sports center. In one of them you can hear a woman say that her foot is broken.
On Tuesday morning, searches for information about the incident on Chinese social media platforms were heavily censored. A search on Weibo, similar to Articles from Chinese media about Monday evening’s incident had been removed.
China’s internet censors pay extra close attention to social media before and during major events, such as the National People’s Congress meeting, where the government announces its major policy initiatives for the coming year.
The sports center for the Xiangzhou district regularly attracts hundreds of residents to run on the athletic field, play football and dance. Following the incident, the center announced it would be closed until further notice.
China has seen a number of attacks where suspects appear to target random people, including schoolchildren. 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 supermarket in Shanghai.
