Nearly three dozen people were killed after a driver rammed his vehicle into a crowd at a sports complex in southern China on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
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According to AP News, the driver, a 62-year-old man, was detained by law enforcement after driving his vehicle into a crowd that was at the People’s Liberation Army’s annual aviation exhibition in Zhuhai, China.
Police reported that 35 people were killed while 43 were injured.
The man, identified by only his last name Fan, was discovered unconscious in his vehicle following the attack. He had a self-inflicted knife wound. He is reportedly in a coma.
In a preliminary investigation, it was revealed that the motive for the attack was Fan being dissatisfied with the split of financial assets in his divorce.
As the full investigation continues, law enforcement remains tight-lipped about what happened. Officials had attempted to keep all information about the attack from being spread online.
Zhuhai Public Security Bureau also issued a statement about the attack, describing it as “serious and vicious.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping Calls For ‘Strict Punishment’ For Man Involved in Car Attack
Meanwhile, state media Xinhua News reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “severely punished in accordance with the law,” towards Fan.
He also encouraged all local governments in the country to “strengthen prevention and control of risks at the source, strictly prevent extreme cases from occurring, and to resolve conflicts and disputes in a timely manner.”
Xi has also ordered a central government working group to be dispatched to the attack’s site to oversee recovery efforts.
The car attack in Zhuhai, China follows a series of attacks on civilians within the country.
Last month, on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China’s founding, a knife attack occurred in a Shanghai supermarket. Three people were killed, while 15 others were injured.
In September, a bus hit a crowd of students and parents outside a psych in Shandong. A total of 11 people were killed in the incident. The driver was taken into police custody.
However, state media reported at the time that the driver “lost control of the bus” and an investigation is underway. The bus was specially customized for transporting students. It also belonged to an “external company,” not the school district.
In a separate September incident, a 10-year-old was killed. He was stabbed on the way to his Japanese school in Shenzhen.