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A man killed 35 people and injured 43 more by driving his SUV into a sports centre in China’s Zhuhai.
Police said the attack was triggered by the man’s dissatisfaction with his divorce settlement.
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged “all-out efforts” to treat the injured and demanded punishment for the perpetrator.
A man killed 35 people and injured 43 more when he ploughed his car into people exercising around a sports centre in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai this week, police say.
The toll was a dramatic increase from the initial report the day before, when police said that people had been injured, with videos apparently scrubbed from social media.
A 62-year-old man surnamed Fan drove his small SUV through the gate and “forced his way into the city’s sports centre, ramming people who were exercising on the internal roads”, police said.
Preliminary investigations suggested Fan’s attack had been “triggered by [his] dissatisfaction with the division of property following his divorce”.
A car rammed through the Zhuhai Sports Centre, killing 35 in south China. Photo / AFP
Footage from Monday night geolocated by AFP showed people lying motionless on the ground, while others were seen frantically attempting to resuscitate the unconscious.
An witness surnamed Chen told Chinese news magazine Caixin it was common for groups to take daily walks on the dedicated track around the stadium.
He had just completed his third lap on Monday when a car suddenly sped at them and knocked down “many people”, but he was able to jump aside.
Awitness surnamed Liu told Caixin that the car “drove in a loop”.
“People were hurt in all areas of the running track – east, south, west, and north,” he said.
Fan was “controlled on the spot” as he tried to drive away, police said.
He was found in his car cutting himself with a knife, and is in a coma after self-inflicted injuries to his neck and other parts of his body, unable to be interrogated, they added.
The 43 people wounded are not in life-threatening condition.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged “all-out efforts” to treat the injured and has “demanded punishing the perpetrator in accordance with the law”, according to state news agency Xinhua.
China’s largest airshow showcasing Beijing’s civil and military aerospace sector is being held in Zhuhai at the moment.
‘No filming’
Fewer than 20 people were at the sports stadium on Tuesday night when AFP visited.
Some of them were trying to film, but were blocked by a police car and security guards shouting “No filming!”
At another entrance, candles flickered at a makeshift memorial where people were sending online flower deliveries.
One delivery driver told reporters he had already brought 10 orders there that night.
Security was also high in front of the emergency room of a nearby hospital.
After the announcement of the death toll, the news shot to the top of the trending topics on Chinese social media, with tens of millions of views.
However, the graphic videos that circulated on social media on Monday night showing the aftermath of the incident had mostly disappeared.
On Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, users expressed their shock at the sudden rise in fatalities.
“Last night after work, when I watched the news, there weren’t this many people reported,” one user commented. “Tonight, suddenly seeing this number – so many families affected.”
Videos on the social media platform showed Zhuhai residents queuing up at blood donation centres and hospitals.
In a safety alert, Japan’s embassy in China warned its citizens on Tuesday to be on high alert and “refrain from speaking loudly in Japanese and avoid provocative, attention-drawing behaviour such as being loud in groups”.
The embassy said it had no information that any Japanese citizens had been wounded in the attack.
China has had a spate of violent public attacks in recent months – including the fatal stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy in the neighbouring city of Shenzhen in September, prompting outrage from Tokyo.
A man killed three people and wounded 15 in a knife attack at a supermarket in Shanghai last month.
And in July, police said a vehicle crashed into pedestrians in the central city of Changsha, killing eight.
