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China: 35 dead in car-ramming attack
Thirty-five people were killed and 43 injured after a car drove into a crowd Monday evening in Zhuhai, a town in southern China, local police announced Tuesday. Authorities had reported as early as Monday a car crashed into pedestrians in Zhuhai, but police then reported only injuries, and videos of the tragedy were later removed from social media. On Tuesday, police announced that a “serious and vicious attack” took place at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leaving 35 dead and 43 injured. The Japanese embassy in China subsequently warned Japanese nationals, asking them to “refrain from speaking loudly in Japanese and to avoid any provocative and which attracts attention, such as forming noisy groups”. She clarified that there were no reports of injured Japanese citizens. According to the Chinese police, the vital prognosis of the injured in Zhuhai is not engaged. The driver, a man of 62, “forced entry at the wheel of a small SUV and drove into the city's sports center, knocking down people who were training in the interior aisles,” police said in a statement. The driver, named Fan, was arrested while he was stabbing himself with a knife “and was sent to hospital for treatment”, according to the same source. He is in a coma after being injured especially at the neck and “is not not in a condition to undergo questioning”, added the police. Initial elements of the investigation suggest that the man may have committed his act due to “his dissatisfaction with the division of property following his divorce”. The Chinese president Xi Jinping asked to do “everything necessary” to treat the injured, and hoped that the perpetrator would be “punished in accordance with the law.” The most important Chinese civil and military air show is currently taking place in the same city. Videos from Monday evening geolocated by AFP showed people lying motionless on the ground while others frantically tried to resuscitate them. – Blood donation – According to videos posted on Chinese social network Xiaohongshu, residents of Zhuhai lined up outside establishments to donate their blood.Several Internet users expressed their shock on this network at the number of victims. “Last night, after work, when I watched the news, there was no mention of so many victims,” one wrote, commenting on a photo from the police press release. And “tonight I suddenly see this number – so many families affected.” The country has seen a series of violent attacks in recent months. A man killed three people and injured 15 in a knife attack at a supermarket from Shanghai in October. In September, a Japanese schoolboy was stabbed in the city of Shenzen (south) and died of his injuries, sparking a strong reaction from Tokyo. Shenzen is approximately 155 km from Zhuhai by road. And in July, a vehicle drove into passers-by in the city of Changsa (center), killing eight people. Relations between Japan and China tend to deteriorate as Beijing strengthens its military capacity in the region and Japan its security ties with the United States and its allies.isk-ll/reb/rsc/pz/lpt/clc/ybl
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