Wounded people lie on the ground after a suspected hit-and-run attack outside a sports centre, in Zhuhai, China. Photo : Reuters
35 people have been killed and 43 other were severely injured following a hit-and-run in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, local police said on Tuesday.
According to the report, the incident happened at 7:48 p.m. (1148 GMT) on Monday, when a small off-road vehicle was driven into a large group of people exercising outside the sports centre.
Zhuhai police said in a statement that the suspect, a 62-year-old man surnamed Fan, was being treated at a hospital after hurting himself with a knife in his car.
A reporter from Reuters that was at the scene on Tuesday evening said people had begun leaving wreaths, counting 18 laid in front of a sign for the Zhuhai People's Fitness Square. Others lit candles and incense. The police presence was low.
A video circulating online about the scene on Monday after the attack had shown at least 20 people lying on the ground. Cries of "terrorist" could be heard as ambulances arrived to take the injured to hospital.
Hundreds of emergency personnel from Zhuhai City and Guangdong province were deployed to provide emergency treatment, and more than 300 healthcare workers from five hospitals worked around the clock to save lives, state media Beijing Daily reported.
Fan was apprehended by police at the scene after attempting to flee, police said, adding that he had self-harmed using a knife, causing severe neck injuries.
A preliminary investigation by the police suggested the incident was triggered by Fan's discontent following a divorce.
President Xi Jinping, cited by Chinese state television CCTV, ordered all-out efforts to treat the injured and demanded severe punishment for the perpetrator. The central government has dispatched a team to guide the handling of the case, CCTV said.
The attack sparked thousands of angry comments on Chinese social media, many of which were quickly censored after the police reported the high death toll.
"Zhuhai is one of the most relaxed, peaceful, and liveable cities in the country, and this tragic incident has left a painful memory that will be hard to erase for many years to come," one user of the Weibo platform said.
Violent crime is rare in China due to tight security and strict gun laws. However, a rise in reports of knife attacks in large cities has drawn public attention to safety in public spaces.
In October, a knife attack in Beijing left five people wounded outside one of the city's top primary schools. A month earlier, a Japanese student was fatally stabbed outside his school in Shenzhen.
Zhuhai is hosting China's biggest annual air show this week where a new stealth jet fighter will be on display for the first time.
中國珠海發生肇事逃逸攻擊事件 造成35人死亡
當地警方週二表示，中國南部城市珠海發生一起肇事逃逸事件，已造成 35 人死亡、43 人重傷。
報道稱，事件發生在晚上7點48分。 週一（1148 GMT），一輛小型越野車衝撞了一大群在體育中心外鍛鍊的人。
珠海警方在聲明中稱，嫌犯是一名62歲的範姓男子，在車內持刀自傷，目前正在醫院接受治療。
週二晚上在現場的路透社記者稱，人們已經開始獻花圈，據統計，珠海市人民健身廣場的標誌前有18個獻花圈。 其他人點燃蠟燭和香。 警察人數很少。
週一襲擊發生後，網路上流傳的一段有關現場的影片顯示，至少有 20 人躺在地上。 當救護車到達將傷者送往醫院時，可以聽到「恐怖分子」的喊叫聲。
根據官方媒體《北京日報》報道，珠海市和廣東省抽調了數百名急救人員進行緊急救治，五家醫院的 300 多名醫護人員日以繼夜地搶救生命。
警方稱，範試圖逃跑後在現場被警方逮捕，並補充說，他用刀自殘，造成頸部嚴重受傷。
警方初步調查認為，這起事件是范某離婚後的不滿引發的。
中國國家電視台中央電視台引述國家主席習近平的話稱，他下令全力救治傷者，並要求嚴懲肇事者。 據央視報道，中央已派出工作小組指導案件處理。
這次襲擊在中國社交媒體上引發了數千條憤怒的評論，其中許多評論在警方報告高死亡人數後很快就被審查。
「珠海是全國最輕鬆、最和平、最宜居的城市之一，這一悲慘事件留下了多年難以抹去的痛苦記憶，」一位微博平台用戶說。
由於嚴密的治安和嚴格的槍枝法規，暴力犯罪在中國很少見。 然而，大城市持刀攻擊事件的增加引起了公眾對公共場所安全的關注。
10月，北京一所頂尖小學外發生持刀攻擊事件，造成五人受傷。 一個月前，一名日本學生在深圳的學校外被刺死。
珠海本週將舉辦中國最大的年度航展，新型隱形噴射戰鬥機將首次亮相。
Source: Reuters
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