A hit-and-run attack at a sports centre in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai killed 35 people and severely injured 43, local police said on Tuesday.
The incident happened at 7.48pm on Monday, when a small off-road vehicle was driven into a large group of people exercising outside the sports centre.
Zhuhai police said in a statement that the suspect, a 62-year-old man surnamed Fan, was being treated at a hospital after hurting himself with a knife in his car.
A Reuters reporter at the scene on Tuesday evening said people had begun leaving wreaths, counting 18 laid in front of a sign for the Zhuhai People’s Fitness Square. Others lit candles and incense. The police presence was low.
The incident occurred a day before a major air show opened in the city in southern Guangdong province, on the border with Macau.
The death toll is the highest since knife-wielding assailants rampaged through a train station in the southwestern city of Kunming in March 2014, killing 29 people.
Videos posted online immediately after the incident showed numerous people lying motionless in pools of blood. By late Monday night, however, Chinese media reports and images on social media had been deleted, and it is suspected that authorities were controlling information before the air show started.
One video, verified by Reuters, had shown at least 20 people lying on the ground. Cries of “terrorist” could be heard as ambulances arrived to take the injured to hospital.
Hundreds of rescue personnel from Zhuhai city and Guangdong province were deployed to provide emergency treatment, and more than 300 healthcare workers from five hospitals worked around the clock to save lives, state media Beijing Daily reported.
Fan was apprehended by police at the scene after attempting to flee, police said, adding that he had harmed himself using a knife, causing severe neck injuries.
Police said their preliminary investigation suggested the incident was triggered by Fan’s discontent following a divorce.
President Xi Jinping, quoted by the state broadcaster CCTV, ordered all-out efforts to treat the injured and demanded severe punishment for the perpetrator.
The attack sparked thousands of angry comments on Chinese social media, many of which were quickly censored after the police reported the high death toll.
“Zhuhai is one of the most relaxed, peaceful, and liveable cities in the country, and this tragic incident has left a painful memory that will be hard to erase for many years to come,” one user on Weibo said.
Violent crime is rare in China due to tight security and strict gun laws. However, a rise in reports of knife attacks in large cities has drawn public attention to safety in public spaces.
In September, a man went on a stabbing spree at a supermarket in Shanghai, killing three people and injuring several others.
In that same month, a 10-year-old Japanese student died a day after he was stabbed near his school in southern China.
Zhuhai is hosting China’s biggest annual air show this week where a new stealth jet fighter will be on display for the first time.
The incident happened at 7.48pm on Monday, when a small off-road vehicle was driven into a large group of people exercising outside the sports centre.
Zhuhai police said in a statement that the suspect, a 62-year-old man surnamed Fan, was being treated at a hospital after hurting himself with a knife in his car.
A Reuters reporter at the scene on Tuesday evening said people had begun leaving wreaths, counting 18 laid in front of a sign for the Zhuhai People’s Fitness Square. Others lit candles and incense. The police presence was low.
The incident occurred a day before a major air show opened in the city in southern Guangdong province, on the border with Macau.
The death toll is the highest since knife-wielding assailants rampaged through a train station in the southwestern city of Kunming in March 2014, killing 29 people.
Videos posted online immediately after the incident showed numerous people lying motionless in pools of blood. By late Monday night, however, Chinese media reports and images on social media had been deleted, and it is suspected that authorities were controlling information before the air show started.
One video, verified by Reuters, had shown at least 20 people lying on the ground. Cries of “terrorist” could be heard as ambulances arrived to take the injured to hospital.
Hundreds of rescue personnel from Zhuhai city and Guangdong province were deployed to provide emergency treatment, and more than 300 healthcare workers from five hospitals worked around the clock to save lives, state media Beijing Daily reported.
Fan was apprehended by police at the scene after attempting to flee, police said, adding that he had harmed himself using a knife, causing severe neck injuries.
Police said their preliminary investigation suggested the incident was triggered by Fan’s discontent following a divorce.
President Xi Jinping, quoted by the state broadcaster CCTV, ordered all-out efforts to treat the injured and demanded severe punishment for the perpetrator.
The attack sparked thousands of angry comments on Chinese social media, many of which were quickly censored after the police reported the high death toll.
“Zhuhai is one of the most relaxed, peaceful, and liveable cities in the country, and this tragic incident has left a painful memory that will be hard to erase for many years to come,” one user on Weibo said.
Violent crime is rare in China due to tight security and strict gun laws. However, a rise in reports of knife attacks in large cities has drawn public attention to safety in public spaces.
In September, a man went on a stabbing spree at a supermarket in Shanghai, killing three people and injuring several others.
In that same month, a 10-year-old Japanese student died a day after he was stabbed near his school in southern China.
Zhuhai is hosting China’s biggest annual air show this week where a new stealth jet fighter will be on display for the first time.
