Before the Zhuhai attack, previous mass killings in China

BEIJING (Reuters) – The attack in Zhuhai, in which a driver drove his car into a crowd of people in southern China, killing 35 people and seriously injuring dozens of others, has put a spotlight on a recent wave of similar attacks in China.

Below is a list of the country’s largest mass murder incidents in recent years:

May 22, 2014 – URUMQI, Xinjiang Region – Four men drove two SUVs into a crowd of shoppers at a busy market and threw explosives out of car windows, killing themselves and 39 others.

September 30 – October 1, 2015 – LIUZHOU, Guangxi, South China – In a series of deadly bomb attacks, a 33-year-old man killed 10 people and injured 51 others during a water festival in the city. The suspect was killed in one of the bombings, police said. He had sent more than a dozen parcel bombs to locations such as shopping centers, hospitals and government buildings.

January 5, 2016, YINCHUAN, Ningxia, Northwest China – A man carried out an arson attack on a bus, killing 17 people and injuring 32 others.

September 12, 2018, HENGYANG, Hunan, South China – A man rammed his car into a crowd in a public square and attacked people on the spot with a folding shovel and a dagger, killing 11 people and injuring 44 others. According to police, the suspect had multiple convictions for drug trafficking, theft and harming others, which led to a “desire for revenge against society.”

July 7, 2020, ANSHUN, Guizhou, Southwest China – A 52-year-old man drove a bus into a lake, killing 21 people and injuring 15 others. According to the police, the bus driver was dissatisfied with his life and indignant about the demolition of the social housing he rented.

January 11, 2023, GUANGZHOU, Guangdong, South China – A 22-year-old man rammed his car into a crowd in the business district, killing five and injuring 13. According to the court, the suspect had enormous debts and had committed the crime to “vent personal emotions”.

June 11, 2024, JILIN, Northeast China – A 55-year-old local man injured four American instructors from a small university in Iowa in a public park. It took more than 24 hours for officials to announce the attack and Chinese social media was cleared of footage of the attack.

June 24, 2024, SUZHOU, Jiangsu, East China – An unemployed man in his 50s injured three people in a knife attack on a Japanese school bus. A Japanese boy and his mother were injured and a Chinese worker who tried to protect the students died. State media and major social media platforms condemned “extreme nationalism” after the attack.

September 18, 2024, SHENZHEN, Guangdong, South China – A 10-year-old Japanese student was fatally stabbed by a 44-year-old unemployed man on his way to school. The attack took place on the anniversary of a 1931 incident that sparked the war between China and Japan.

September 30, 2024, SHANGHAI, East China – A 37-year-old man killed three people and injured 15 in a knife attack at a suburban supermarket. According to an initial police investigation, the suspect had traveled to Shanghai to express his anger after a personal financial dispute.

October 8, 2024, GUANGZHOU, South China, A 60-year-old man carried out a knife attack in front of a primary school in the central part of the city. Three were injured, including two primary school students. The suspect was previously convicted of attempted murder for stabbing his ex-girlfriend and was released from prison in March after serving his sentence.

October 28, 2024, BEIJING – A 50-year-old man injured five people, including three minors, in a knife attack near one of the city’s top primary schools in Haidian district, as the school was dismissed.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)