China driver ramps into crowd: 35 killed and over 40 casualties
Photo: In Zhuhai, China, people leave flowers and light candles in memory of the victims of a car that rammed into a crowd (cp24.com)
A man in Zhuhai, China, rammed his car into a group of people training at a sports complex in the southern part of the country. The incident resulted in 35 dead, with dozens more suffering serious injuries, according to the Associated Press and Reuters.
Details of the car ramming into the crowd
The tragedy occurred on Monday night, and it took nearly a day for Chinese authorities to announce details about the event officially.
According to Chinese law enforcement, 62-year-old driver Fan, responsible for the attack, was upset over the distribution of property during his divorce proceedings.
Police reported that after the car crash, he was detained and hospitalized with self-inflicted knife wounds to his neck and other parts of his body.
The latest police update confirms that 35 people were killed and 43 injured in the attack in Zhuhai.
On Tuesday, police set up barricades at the entrance to the sports complex, preventing public access. However, people left bouquets in memory of the victims at the square next to the sports center.
Tragedy amid Zhuhai airshow and censorship online
Western media noted that the annual Zhuhai airshow opened on Tuesday, during which the People’s Liberation Army of China demonstrated its new stealth fighter jet for the first time. Reports about the tragedy were heavily censored online.
For example, a search for Zhuhai on China’s official news agency Xinhua website led to materials about the airshow but no mention of the car attack.
Meanwhile, images appeared online showing dozens of people lying on the track of the sports complex, apparently as a result of the car attack.
Additionally, Chinese social media platforms published images of the car attempting to flee from the police, but these images were quickly censored.
Angry comments about the delayed official announcement regarding the incident were also removed, and the Weibo messaging site censored hashtags related to the number of deaths.
History of car incidents in Zhuhai
Western media pointed out that there were no signs the car incident was related to the airshow in Zhuhai. This marks the second such incident during an airshow in the city.
In 2008, at least four people were killed and 20 injured when a truck drove into a crowded schoolyard during an airshow. The police later stated that the attacker had been seeking revenge after a road conflict.
Authorities' response to the tragedy
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered all efforts to be made to treat the injured and demanded strict punishment for the driver responsible for the attack.
As reported by CCTV, the central government has dispatched a team to guide the investigation.
Earlier reports from 2017 revealed that a man armed with a knife attacked pharmacy customers in the northern Chinese province of Hebei, killing three and injuring four.
That same year, in July, a man attacked customers at a supermarket in the southern province of Shenzhen with a meat cleaver, leaving two dead and nearly ten injured.
