At least 35 dead after car driven into crowd at sports centre in Southern China

A driver has killed 35 people and injured at least 43 after driving his car into a crowd of people exercising in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai.

A 62-year-old man was detained after being found in the car with a knife and injuries to his neck, believed to be self-harm. He is currently unconscious and receiving medical treatment.

Police have identified a man only by his last name, Fan, and cited his disappointment with a divorce settlement as a possible motive in a preliminary investigation.

Videos on social media, of the incident on Monday, showed a firefighter performing CPR on a person, as people were told to leave the scene.

Several people were lying on the floor of a sports centre running track. In one video, a woman said, “my foot is broken”.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a statement the “suspect must be punished severely”.

“A car driven into a group of people at the Xiangzhou district sports centre in Zhuhai city, Guangdong province, causing heavy causalities and was extremely bad in nature.

“It is necessary to make every effort to treat the injured, and carefully complete a job in comforting and caring for the dead/injured and their family members. The suspect must be punished severely in accordance with the law.”

By Tuesday morning, Chinese social media posts were heavily censored. Chinese articles mentioning the incident were taken down on Monday night.

The sports centre, which regularly attracts hundreds of residents, announced it would be closed until further notice.

China has seen a number of attacks where suspects appear to target random people such as schoolchildren.

In October, a 50-year-old man was detained after he allegedly used a knife to attack children at a school in Beijing, leaving five people injured.