Car ramming in China leaves 35 dead, 43 injured

Read RFA coverage of this story in Chinese

At least 35 people were killed and 43 injured when a driver rammed his car into a crowd at a stadium in southern China’s Zhuhai city, prompting a rare call from President Xi Jinping on Tuesday for an investigation and for the perpetrator to be punished.

The attack, believed to be the deadliest in modern Chinese history, occurred on Monday night as the city hosted the People‘s Liberation Army’s annual airshow, where it debuted a new fighter jet.

Police detained a 62-year-old man surnamed Fan in connection with the attack, who they said was hospitalized with allegedly self-inflicted knife wounds.

They said Fan had been angered over a divorce settlement.

Images of the incident, which appeared to show dozens of people lying on the ground as a car fled the scene, circulated widely on social media but were quickly censored and removed, as were comments expressing frustration over a nearly 24-hour delay in official reporting.

RFA Mandarin spoke with a resident of Zhuhai surnamed Chen who said that the driver of the car “hit the crowd and then came back to hit them again.”

“This is definitely revenge against society, not an ordinary traffic accident,” he said.

State media cited Xi issuing a statement on Tuesday in which he said the incident was under investigation and called for the perpetrator’s severe punishment. It is unusual for Xi to comment about specific crimes or incidents.

A team from the central government was sent to the city of 2.5 million to provide guidance to authorities, it said.

By Tuesday evening, candles and flowers could be seen laid outside the sports center, where people had gathered to exercise when the attack occurred, Reuters reported.

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Monday’s attack marked the second such to occur during the Zhuhai airshow, after a man drove a truck into a crowded schoolyard in 2008, killing four and injuring 20.

Violent attacks are rare in China, where gun laws are strict and the population is subject to strict monitoring by authorities.

But a spate of knife-related incidents have highlighted lapses in security at public spaces.

In June, a man surnamed Cai stabbed four U.S. college instructors and a Chinese citizen who tried to intervene in the northeastern city of Jilin. The same month, a 10-year-old Japanese boy was stabbed to death as he walked to school in southeastern Shenzhen city.