Searches for the incident on Chinese social media were heavily censored.
At least 35 people died and another 43 were injured on Tuesday after a man drove into a group exercising at a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, police announced.
The 62-year-old driver was detained, authorities said, which did not clarify whether it was an attack or an accident. A motive was not mentioned and police said investigations were continuing.
Police identified the man only by his family name Fan, as is the practice of Chinese authorities. In the statement, police noted only that the vehicle struck several pedestrians on Monday night.
An emergency service employee at Shang Chong hospital, in Zhuhai, stated that the unit received some minor injuries and that most of them had left the scene after treatment. Zhuhai People’s Hospital said it had received the injured, but did not provide a detailed number of casualties.
The videos show a firefighter performing CPR on a person, while other bystanders were asked to leave the scene. In the videos, Dozens of people appear lying face down on the sports center’s athletics track. In one of them, a woman says: “my foot is broken.”
Searches for the incident on Chinese social media were heavily censored. A search on the social network Weibo for the sports center gives only a few results. Some mention the fact that something happened, but without photographs or details. THEArticles published by the Chinese press about the incident were withdrawn.
Chinese censors take extra care to delete negative news from social media before and during major events.
This week, Zhuhai hosts the country’s main aeronautical show, where the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, will be present, and which serves to present the latest developments in the Chinese aeronautical industry, at military and civil level.
The Xiangzhou district sports center regularly attracts hundreds of residents who can run on the athletics track, play football and dance. Following the incident, the center announced its closure until further notice.
In October, a 50-year-old man was detained after allegedly using a knife to attack children at a school in Beijing. Five people were injured. In September, three people were killed in a knife attack at a Shanghai supermarket.
