35 KILLED, 43 INJURED IN CHINA CAR-RAMMING

Tue 12 November 2024:

At least 35 people were killed and 43 others injured in a car-ramming in southern China, state media reported on Tuesday.

The incident occurred Monday night in Zhuhai city of the southeastern Guangdong province, when a 62-year-old male drove his car into the crowd, according to the local English daily Global Times.

Chinese authorities took almost 24 hours to officially disclose the incident, which took place on Monday night in Zhuhai, a city of about 2.5 million people in southern China near Macau.

35 killed, dozens wounded in south China car ramming

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 Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/6uSoiS90c1

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) November 12, 2024

By Tuesday morning, searches for information about the incident on Chinese social media platforms were being heavily censored. A search on Weibo, similar to X, for the sports center only turned up a few posts, with only a couple referring to the fact that something had happened there, and no pictures or details. Articles by Chinese media outlets about the incident from Monday night had been taken down.

Images and videos showing dozens of people knocked to the ground and a car fleeing from the scene, which circulated on China’s major social media platforms on Monday night, were swiftly censored. Angry comments about the official delay in reporting the incident were also removed, and the Weibo messaging site censored a hashtag that mentioned the death toll.

35 killed, dozens wounded in south China car ramming

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 Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/JL62XxKbY6

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) November 12, 2024

Police said the 62-year-old driver, with the surname Fan, had been captured and was hospitalised for wounds believed to have been self-inflicted with a knife to the neck and other parts of his body. Fan had been upset about the split of assets in his divorce settlement, police added.

More than 300 healthcare workers from five hospitals worked around the clock to save lives, state media Beijing Daily reported.

The attack happened as Zhuhai captured China’s attention with the People’s Liberation Army’s largest annual airshow, where a new stealth jet fighter is on display for the first time.

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There was no indication that the attack was related to the airshow. But it was the second such incident to occur during the Zhuhai airshow: in 2008, at least four people were killed and 20 injured when a man drove a truck into a crowded schoolyard during the airshow. Police said that attacker had been seeking revenge over a traffic dispute.

President Xi Jinping, cited by Chinese state television CCTV, ordered all-out efforts to treat the injured and demanded severe punishment for the perpetrator. The central government has dispatched a team to provide guidance on handling of the case, CCTV said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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