A 62-year-old man deliberately drove his vehicle into a crowd exercising at a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai late Monday, killing 35 people and injuring 43 others, police said Tuesday.
The suspect, identified only by his surname Fan in accordance with Chinese police practice, was detained at the scene of the attack, which occurred on the eve of the city’s annual People’s Liberation Army aviation exhibition. One hospital reported receiving more than 20 injured victims, according to state media.
Videos shared by news blogger Li Ying, known as Teacher Li on social media platform X, showed firefighters performing CPR and dozens of victims lying on the sports center’s running track. In one clip, a woman can be heard saying “my foot is broken” as emergency responders urged people to leave the area.
By Tuesday morning, Chinese internet censors had heavily restricted social media discussions about the incident, with searches on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, yielding few results. Previously published media articles about the attack were removed, consistent with authorities’ practice of limiting online discussion during major events.
The Xiangzhou district sports center, which regularly attracts hundreds of residents for running, soccer, and social dancing, announced an indefinite closure following the incident. Police have not revealed a motive for the attack as investigations continue.
The rampage adds to a series of similar attacks targeting random civilians in China. In October, a 50-year-old man allegedly injured five people in a knife attack at a Beijing school, while three people died in a September knife attack at a Shanghai supermarket.
