(Adnkronos) – At least 35 people died and 43 were injured in Zhuhai, a city in Guangdong province in southern China where a car ran over dozens of people who were working out at a sports facility last night. Official Chinese media reported the incident this morning, while the Airshow is underway in the city.
According to the police reconstruction, a 62-year-old man drove into the crowd and stabbed himself in the neck. The man, the Global Times reports, was arrested and is in a coma. According to police, the man’s insane gesture was motivated by his dissatisfaction with the divorce proceedings.
The Zhuhai Department of Public Safety acknowledged that despite the deployment of forces after the first news of what happened, rescuers were unable to save the lives of many people.
The injured were transported to various hospitals in the area. The man driving the vehicle, identified only as ‘Fan’, broke through the door of the sports facility with an off-road vehicle and ran over dozens of people before fleeing. Later, before being stopped, he inflicted several stab wounds to his neck.
At Caixin, a witness said there were at least six groups of people gathered for training around the sports facility when the car plowed into the crowd outside the Zhuhai Sports Centre stadium. According to the witness, the car headed at high speed towards the people, “running over many.”
Another witness confirmed that the car “was driving in circles and that people in every area of the racetrack were hit.” Among the injured are children, young people and the elderly.
Airshow China opened this morning about 40 kilometers from the scene of the massacre.
