35 killed, dozens hurt in China car ramming

ZHUHAI, China: A driver has killed 35 people and wounded 43 others in southern China, police said Tuesday, a day after the car ploughed down people exercising in a sports centre in the city of Zhuhai.

After the attack was reported on Monday, police only said people had been wounded, while videos of the incident appeared to have been scrubbed from social media.

But on Tuesday, police said that a “serious and vicious attack” had occurred at Zhuhai Sports Centre, revealing the death toll to be 35.

The 43 people wounded are not currently in life-threatening conditions.

Videos from Monday night geolocated by AFP showed people lying motionless on the ground, while others were seen frantically attempting to resuscitate the unconscious.

Preliminary investigations suggested that the 62-year-old driver, surnamed Fan, had been “triggered by (his) dissatisfaction with the division of property following his divorce”, the police said in a statement.

Fan drove “a small SUV through the gate and forced his way into the city’s sports centre, ramming people who were exercising on the internal roads of the sports centre”, the statement added. He was “controlled on the spot by the police who rushed to the scene as he attempted to drive away”.

The police found Fan in his car cutting himself with a knife, before they stopped him and sent him to hospital.

He is currently in a coma after self-inflicted injuries to his neck and other parts of his body and unable to undergo interrogation, police added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged “all-out efforts” to treat the people injured and has “demanded punishing the perpetrator in accordance with the law”, state news agency Xinhua said.