35 killed, dozens wounded in south China car ramming

ZHUHAI, China: A man killed 35 people and injured 43 more when he ploughed his car into people exercising around a sports centre in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday, local police said on Tuesday.

The toll was a dramatic increase from the initial incident report the day before, when police only said that people had been injured, with videos apparently scrubbed from social media.

A 62-year-old man surnamed Fan drove his small SUV through the gate and “forced his way into the city´s sports centre, ramming people who were exercising on the internal roads”, police said on Tuesday.

Preliminary investigations suggested Fan´s attack had been “triggered by (his) dissatisfaction with the division of property following his divorce”, their statement said.

Footage from Monday night geolocated by AFP showed people lying motionless on the ground, while others were seen frantically attempting to resuscitate the unconscious.

An eyewitness surnamed Chen told Chinese news magazine Caixin it was common for groups to take daily walks on the dedicated track around the stadium.

He had just completed his third lap on Monday when a car suddenly sped at them and knocked down “many people”, but he was able to jump aside. Another eyewitness surnamed Liu told Caixin that the car “drove in a loop”.