By HUIZHONG WU and NG HAN GUAN
Associated Press
ZHUHAI, China (AP) — A man who authorities said was upset over his divorce settlement rammed his car into a crowd of people exercising at a sports complex in southern China, killing 35 and severely injuring dozens of others, police said Tuesday.
Police detained the 62-year-old man, who is being treated for wounds thought to be self-inflicted, shortly after the attack Monday night in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai. The city is hosting the People’s Liberation Army’s annual aviation exhibition, which opened Tuesday, and searches for what happened were heavily censored for users behind China’s Great Firewall.
Outside of the controls, however, videos circulated on the social media platform X. In several, dozens of people could be seen lying on the track at the sports complex, which is regularly used by hundreds of residents to run, play soccer or dance.
In one, shared by news blogger and dissident Li Ying, a woman says “my foot is broken.” That same video showed a firefighter performing CPR on a person, as others were told to leave. Li, who is known on X as Teacher Li, posts daily news based on user submissions.
In addition to the 35 people killed, police said 43 were injured.
Police identified the man detained only by his family name of Fan, as is typical, and said he was unconscious and receiving medical care after being found in his car with a knife and wounded. He was dissatisfied with the split of financial assets in his divorce, according to a preliminary investigation, police said.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for the “strict” punishment of the perpetrator according to law in a statement Tuesday evening.