Nectar Gan
Thirty-five people were killed in southern China after a man plowed his car into crowds exercising at an outdoor sports center on Monday evening, according to police, in the country’s deadliest known attack on the public in a decade.
Another 43 people were injured and hospitalized in the rampage in the southern city of Zhuhai, local police said in a statement Tuesday.
Police said the driver, identified as a 62-year-old man surnamed Fan, was apprehended while trying to flee the scene. An initial investigation suggested he was unhappy with the outcome of a divorce settlement, they added.
The death toll is the highest China has seen since 2014, when a string of terrorist attacks rocked the far western region of Xinjiang. But sudden episodes of violence in recent months targeting random members of the public – including school children – have surged across the country as economic growth stutters, unnerving a public long accustomed low violent crime rates and ubiquitous surveillance.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping described the the mass hit-and-run in Zhuhai as “extremely vicious,” calling for the perpetrator to be severely punished in accordance with the law, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Police said Fan’s small off-road vehicle forced its way into the grounds of the sports complex and hit people exercising around a track at around 7:48 p.m. Monday.
When police intercepted his escape, Fan was found self-harming with a knife in the car and taken to hospital for treatment, the statement said.
“Due to severe self-inflicted neck injuries, Fan is currently unconscious, still undergoing emergency treatment and unable to be interrogated,” police said.
No comments:
Post a Comment