China mourns car attack victims as Xi Jinping calls for punishment of bomber

Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered an “all-out effort” to treat the injured and called for tough sanctions against a man who rammed his car into people at a sports center in the southern city of Zhuhai. China, killing at least 35 people.

About 43 other people were rushed to several hospitals for treatment on Monday after a 62-year-old man allegedly drove his car through a barrier at the Zhuhai sports center where people were exercising.

A preliminary investigation suggests the man, identified by his last name Fan, was unhappy with the division of financial assets during his divorce. He was arrested while allegedly trying to flee after crashing his car into civilians and is currently being treated for injuries believed to be self-inflicted.

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Members of the public laid wreaths and flowers in memory of the victims before the area was cleared by Chinese authorities. Beijing has been criticized for its attempt to censor details of the incident, which occurred on the eve of China's biggest annual air show being held this week in Zhuhai.

That sparked outrage on Chinese social media, where posts complaining about the government's slow response and raising questions about the mental health of a nation reeling from a recent spate of similar killings were quickly deleted. The government is also facing backlash for taking more than 24 hours to release the death toll, after initially announcing the number of injured was 20.

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Despite efforts to clean up the site in Zhuhai, located about 2,261 km south of the capital Beijing, delivery drivers on motorcycles continued to drop off fresh flowers on Wednesday morning. Authorities erected temporary barriers around the makeshift vigil area, deployed security personnel and barred journalists from entering.

“The authorities had not released any information. Some colleagues mentioned it and I couldn't believe it at first, but it was later confirmed,” a 50-year-old man who identified himself as being Zheng.

Some wreaths bore handwritten notes: “Foreigners travel well. May there be no demons in heaven. » One of them said: “Let there be no thugs in heaven. Good will triumph over evil. Rest in peace.”

China's Foreign Ministry said no foreign nationals were killed in the car attack. The Chinese government has taken and will continue to take effective measures to guarantee people's lives and social stability, ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday.

Videos of the incident showed a firefighter performing CPR on a person as he was asked to leave the scene. Other videos shared on X by blogger and dissident Li Ying, better known as Professor Li, showed injured people strewn on the road in a pool of blood.

In one, a woman says: My foot is broken.

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Most of the injured wore the same clothes and were apparently part of a group of middle-aged and elderly people exercising on the track.

Hundreds of rescue workers were deployed to provide emergency care, and more than 300 medical professionals from five hospitals worked around the clock to save lives, state media Beijing Daily reported.

An eyewitness told Caixin Global that the car was “driving in a loop.” “People were injured in all areas of the race track, east, south, west and north.

The Chinese president said in a statement: “All relevant localities and departments should make efforts to ensure the safety of people's lives and social stability.”

Premier Li Qiang called for “coordinated risk prevention and control efforts to ensure social stability,” state media reported.

Although there is no indication that the attack is linked to the airshow, it is the second such incident to occur at the Zhuhai airshow.

In 2008, at least four people were killed and 20 others injured when a man drove a truck into a crowded schoolyard during an air show. Police said the attacker was seeking revenge over a traffic dispute.

Violent crime is rare in China due to a strict security system and strict gun laws. However, the increase in the number of knife attacks in major cities has focused public attention on safety in public spaces.

Tuesday's death toll was the highest since knife-wielding attackers killed 29 people at a train station in the southwestern city of Kunming in March 2014.