Dozens killed in car rampage through Chinese stadium

Published

1 month ago

2024/11/13

Priyan

At least 35 people have been killed in a car attack in southern China, believed to be the deadliest known act of public violence in the country in decades.

Police say a man crashed his car into a stadium in Zhuhai on Monday where he ran down groups of people exercising on the sports track.

The “serious and vicious attack” also injured 45 people – among them elderly and children, local media report.

Police say the 62-year-old driver, identified as a Mr Fan, appeared to have acted out of unhappiness over a divorce settlement.

Reuters Mourners bow their heads while visiting the stadium on Tuesday, where a string of floral tributes line the perimeter — *Mourners visiting the stadium on Tuesday [BBC]*

He was arrested as he tried to flee the Zhuhai Sports Center and is in a coma due to self-inflicted wounds, police said in a statement.

The incident has sparked a national outcry in China, where President Xi Jinping vowed “severe punishment” for the perpetrator, and called for “all-out efforts” to treat the injured.

Details of those who were killed have not been disclosed by authorities yet, but mourners and members of the public had begun laying flowers and other tributes outside the stadium on Tuesday.

The venue – featuring a running track loop – had been a popular exercise ground for locals. Witnesses told Chinese media it appeared Mr Fan had deliberately run people down.

One man named Mr Chen told Caixin news magazine he and his walking group had just completed a lap of the stadium when a car charged towards them at high speed, “knocking down many people”.

Another person at the scene told Caixin: “It drove in a loop and people were hurt in all areas of the running track.”

According to local police, who released a statement on Tuesday, they said their initial investigations suggested Mr Fan’s actions were triggered by a property dispute following his divorce. He is still in a coma and so has not been questioned, police said.

The attack may be the deadliest act of random public violence in China in recent decades. A number have been reported this year including a mass stabbing and firearms attack in Shandong in February which killed at least 21 people. That incident was heavily censored by Chinese authorities.

*Police forces outside the stadium on Tuesday night [BBC]*

Reports of Monday’s attack were already being restricted online on Tuesday – with several videos taken by witnesses at the scene removed from Chinese social media platforms.

But some footage still circulating online showed dozens of people lying on the ground and being attended to by paramedics and bystanders.

In China it is common for censors to quickly take down social media videos which are linked to high-profile incidences of crime.

BBC journalists reporting from the stadium at Zhuhai on Tuesday were also harassed and told to stop filming.

China has seen a spate of violent attacks on members of the public in recent months that have been reported in local media to varying degrees.

In October, a knife attack at a top school in Beijing injured five people, while in September, a man went on astabbing spree at a supermarket in Shanghai, killing three people and injuring several others.

Also in September, a 10 year old Japanese student died a day after he was stabbed near his school in southern China.

Following Monday’s car attack, Japan’s embassy warned its nationals living in the country to avoid speaking Japanese loudly in public.

The incident in Zhuhai has also taken place during heightened security in the city, which is hosting a major military airshow this week. The attack on Monday night took place 40km (24 miles) from where the high-profile Airshow China kicked off on Tuesday.

China is showcasing its newest warplanes and attack drones at the show, which top Russian defence official and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu is expected to attend.

Several entrances and exits to the sports centre were closed during the airshow to facilitate “control”, the centre’s management said on Tuesday.

***[BBC]***

BBC/ ED LAWRENCE A police van and motorcylists waiting on the street outside the stadium venue on 12/11/24. It is night time. — *Mourners visiting the stadium on Tuesday [BBC]*

He was arrested as he tried to flee the Zhuhai Sports Center and is in a coma due to self-inflicted wounds, police said in a statement.

The incident has sparked a national outcry in China, where President Xi Jinping vowed “severe punishment” for the perpetrator, and called for “all-out efforts” to treat the injured.

Details of those who were killed have not been disclosed by authorities yet, but mourners and members of the public had begun laying flowers and other tributes outside the stadium on Tuesday.

The venue – featuring a running track loop – had been a popular exercise ground for locals. Witnesses told Chinese media it appeared Mr Fan had deliberately run people down.

One man named Mr Chen told Caixin news magazine he and his walking group had just completed a lap of the stadium when a car charged towards them at high speed, “knocking down many people”.

Another person at the scene told Caixin: “It drove in a loop and people were hurt in all areas of the running track.”

According to local police, who released a statement on Tuesday, they said their initial investigations suggested Mr Fan’s actions were triggered by a property dispute following his divorce. He is still in a coma and so has not been questioned, police said.

The attack may be the deadliest act of random public violence in China in recent decades. A number have been reported this year including a mass stabbing and firearms attack in Shandong in February which killed at least 21 people. That incident was heavily censored by Chinese authorities.

*Police forces outside the stadium on Tuesday night [BBC]*

Reports of Monday’s attack were already being restricted online on Tuesday – with several videos taken by witnesses at the scene removed from Chinese social media platforms.

But some footage still circulating online showed dozens of people lying on the ground and being attended to by paramedics and bystanders.

In China it is common for censors to quickly take down social media videos which are linked to high-profile incidences of crime.

BBC journalists reporting from the stadium at Zhuhai on Tuesday were also harassed and told to stop filming.

China has seen a spate of violent attacks on members of the public in recent months that have been reported in local media to varying degrees.

In October, a knife attack at a top school in Beijing injured five people, while in September, a man went on astabbing spree at a supermarket in Shanghai, killing three people and injuring several others.

Also in September, a 10 year old Japanese student died a day after he was stabbed near his school in southern China.

Following Monday’s car attack, Japan’s embassy warned its nationals living in the country to avoid speaking Japanese loudly in public.

The incident in Zhuhai has also taken place during heightened security in the city, which is hosting a major military airshow this week. The attack on Monday night took place 40km (24 miles) from where the high-profile Airshow China kicked off on Tuesday.

China is showcasing its newest warplanes and attack drones at the show, which top Russian defence official and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu is expected to attend.

Several entrances and exits to the sports centre were closed during the airshow to facilitate “control”, the centre’s management said on Tuesday.

***[BBC]***

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At least 13 people killed in Nigeria stampedes at charity events

Published

9 hours ago

2024/12/22

Priyan

At least 13 people, including four children, have been killed in two incidents in Nigeria as large crowds gathered to collect food and clothing distributed at annual Christmas events, police say.

In the capital, Abuja, at least 10 people died on Saturday and many more were injured in a scramble to receive gifts of charity being distributed by the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama district.

“This unfortunate event, which took place around 6:30am [05:30 GMT], resulted in a stampede that claimed the lives of 10 individuals, including four children, and left eight others with varying degrees of injuries,” said Josephine Adeh, a police spokesperson.

In a separate incident in Okija in Anambra State in southern Nigeria, three people were killed in a crush at a charity event organised by a philanthropist, state police said.

“The event had not even started when the rush began,” police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said. There could be more deaths recorded as officers investigate, he said.

In both incidents, the victims were mostly women and children who were trampled as crowds tried to reach the provisions being offered.

[Aljazeera]

Foreign News

Nine-year-old among five killed in attack on German Christmas market

Published

1 day ago

2024/12/21

Priyan

A nine-year-old child and four adults have been killed, and more than 200 injured after a car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, officials say.

At least 41 people were critically injured after the incident which lasted around three minutes, police said.

The arrested suspect has been named in local media as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old Saudi citizen who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had worked as a doctor.

Reiner Haseloff, the premier of Saxony-Anhalt state, said a preliminary investigation suggested the alleged attacker was acting alone.

He added that he could not rule out more deaths due to the number of injured.

The suspect is currently being questioned and prosecutors expect to charge him with murder and attempted murder in due course, the head of the local prosecutor’s office said on Saturday.

Prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens added that the investigation was ongoing but suggested the background to the crime “could have been disgruntlement with the way Saudi Arabian refugees are treated in Germany”.

The suspected attacker has no known links to Islamist extremism – social media and posts online appear to suggest he had been critical of Islam.

Footage from the scene showed numerous emergency services vehicles attending while people lay on the ground.

Further footage then emerged of armed police confronting and arresting a man who can be seen lying on the ground by a stationary vehicle.

Unverified video on social media purports to show a car ploughing into the crowd at the market.

City officials said around 100 police, medics and firefighters, as well as 50 rescue service personnel rushed to the scene.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who travelled to the city on Saturday, described the attack as a “dreadful tragedy” as “so many people were injured and killed with such brutality” in a place that is supposed to be “joyful”.

He told reporters that there were serious concerns for those who had been critically injured – which German media reports is in the dozens – and that “all resources” will be allocated to investigating the suspect behind the attack.

There would be a memorial service for the victims at the Magdeburg Cathedral later on Saturday, he added.

[BBC]