Car rams into pedestrians in southern China, killing 35 people

Police arrest 62-year-old man and say motive remains unclear

Floral tributes to those killed in the ramming attack, outside the Zhuhai People's Fitness Plaza in Zhuhai, in southern China's Guangdong province. AP

Police in China detained a 62-year-old man after he rammed his car into people exercising at a sports centre in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday killing 35 people and injuring 43 others.

The incident occurred on the eve of the country’s premier aviation exhibition by the People’s Liberation Army which is hosted annually.

The vehicle knocked down “a number of” pedestrians on Monday evening, police said. They identified the man only by his family name, Fan. No motive was made clear and officials said their investigation continues.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged “all-out efforts” to treat the people injured and has “demanded punishing the perpetrator in accordance with the law”, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Mr Fan is currently in a coma after self-inflicted injuries.

By Tuesday morning, searches for the incident on Chinese social media were heavily censored. A search on Weibo turned up a few posts, with few referring to the incident. Articles published by Chinese media about the incident were also removed.

The sports centre for the city district of Xiangzhou regularly attracts hundreds of residents, where they can run, play football and dance. After the incident, the centre announced it would be closed until further notice.

China has seen several attacks in which 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. Five people were injured. In September, three people were killed in a knife attack in a Shanghai supermarket.

-With input from agencies.