35 killed when a driver struck a crowd in a Chinese city

BANGKOK (AP) — Police in China say 35 people were killed and another 43 injured when a driver rammed his car into people training at a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai.

The 62-year-old driver has been arrested, police said earlier Monday. It was not immediately clear whether it was an attack or an accident. No motive was given and police said the investigation was continuing.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

BANGKOK (AP) — A 62-year-old man has been arrested after driving a car into people exercising at a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, police said late Monday, on the eve of China’s premier aviation exhibition. the country by the People’s Liberation Army, organized annually in the city.

The incident, which took place on Monday evening, is facing heavy censorship when the Zhuhai Airshow opened on Tuesday. So far, officials have not released a death or injury toll. One of four hospitals admitting people for treatment said more than 20 were injured, state media reported on Monday.

It was not immediately clear whether it was an attack or an accident. No motive was given and police said the investigation was continuing.

Police identified the man only by his surname Fan, in line with Chinese authorities’ practice. According to police, the car hit “a number” of pedestrians on Monday evening.

A man at the emergency clinic of Shang Chong Hospital in Zhuhai said they had received some slightly injured people and most of them left after treatment. The Zhuhai People’s Hospital said it had received the injured, but did not provide a detailed number of casualties. Calls to Xiangzhou District People’s Hospital and Zhuhai Third People’s Hospital went unanswered.

Video footage showed a firefighter performing CPR on a person as people were told to leave the scene. They were shared by news blogger and dissident Li Ying, better known on X as Teacher Li. His account posts daily news based on user submissions. The video footage showed dozens of people lying on the athletics track of the sports center. In one, a woman says, “My foot is broken.”

On Tuesday morning, searches for the incident on Chinese social media were heavily censored on Chinese social media platforms. A search on Weibo for the sports center turned up only a few posts, only a few of which referred to the fact that something had happened, without photos or details. Articles from Chinese media about Monday evening’s incident have been removed.

China’s internet censors take extra care to undermine social media before and during major events, such as the National People’s Congress meeting, where the government announces its major policy initiatives for the coming year.

The sports center for the Xiangzhou district regularly attracts hundreds of residents, where they can run on the athletics field, play football and dance. Following the incident, the center announced it would be closed until further notice.

China has seen a number of attacks where suspects appear to target random people, such as schoolchildren.

In October, a 50-year-old man was arrested after allegedly using a knife attack children at a school in Beijing. Five people were injured. In September, three people were killed in a knife attack in a Shanghai supermarket.

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Associated Press reporters Elsie Chen and Didi Tang contributed from Washington, and researcher Yu Bing from Beijing.