A driver drove his car into a crowd in China, killing 35 people in Zhuhai

Police arrested a 62-year-old man, identified as a “fan”, who is being treated for wounds believed to be self-inflicted, shortly after the attack on Monday night in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai.

“The police officers found Fan self-harming with a knife in the vehicle, they immediately stopped him and sent him to the hospital for treatment. Due to severe neck injuries, Fan is currently unconscious, he is still undergoing emergency treatment and it is not possible to question him,” the police announced in statement.

The city hosts the annual People’s Liberation Army Air Show, which opened on Tuesday, and searches about what happened are heavily censored for users behind China’s Great Firewall.

Out of control, however, the videos circulated on social media platform X. In several of them, dozens of people could be seen lying on a track in the sports complex, which is regularly used by hundreds of residents to run, play soccer or dance.

In one, shared by blogger and dissident Li Ying, a woman says “my leg is broken”.

The same video shows a firefighter performing CPR on a person while others are told to leave. Li, who is known on Xu as Teacher Li, publishes daily news based on user submissions.

In addition to the 35 killed, police said 43 were injured.

Online video footage of the aftermath, geolocated by CNN, showed scores of people lying on jogging tracks and nearby fields, shoes strewn about.

Many of the injured were wearing sports gear, including the uniforms of at least two local fitness walking groups.

Chinese media outlet Caixin reported that an SUV crashed into multiple fitness walking groups, hitting dozens of participants. Many of the injured were middle-aged and elderly, although there were also teenagers and children among them, Caixin reported.

“(The vehicle) rammed around, injuring people in various parts of the circular track of the sports ground, in the east, south, west and north areas,” witness Liu told Caixin.

The Zhuhai Sports Center has an open athletics track and is visited by local residents for daily exercise. After the incident, the center announced that it would be closed until further notice.

China has witnessed numerous attacks in which suspects have randomly targeted members of the public.

In October, a man was detained after allegedly attacking children at a school in Beijing with a knife. Five people were wounded. In September, three people were killed and 15 others injured in a knife attack at a supermarket in Shanghai. Police said at the time that the suspect had personal financial disputes and had come to Shanghai to “vent his anger”.

In May, two people were killed and 21 injured in a knife attack at a hospital in Yunnan province.

Police identified the man arrested in Monday’s attack only by his family surname of Fan, as is customary, and said he was unconscious and receiving medical treatment after being found in his car with a knife and wounded.

He was unhappy with the division of financial assets in the divorce, according to a preliminary investigation, police said.

Chinese authorities appear to be tightly controlling information about the incident. Internet censors tend to take special care to clean up social media before and during large events, such as an air show or the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress.

Almost 24 hours after the attack, it was not clear how many were dead or injured.

On Tuesday morning, a search on the Chinese social media platform Weibo for the sports center turned up only a few posts, and only a few related to the fact that something had happened, with no pictures or details. Chinese media articles from Monday evening about the incident have been removed.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for “stern” punishment of the perpetrators in accordance with the law in a statement on Tuesday night.

He also called on all local governments “to strengthen prevention and control of risks at source, strictly prevent the occurrence of extreme cases and resolve conflicts and disputes in a timely manner,” according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or via blue on 1300 22 4636.