ZHUHAI, China — A man who authorities said was upset over his divorce settlement plowed his car into a crowd of people exercising at a southern sports complex. Chinakilling 35 people and seriously injuring dozens more, police said Tuesday.

Police detained the 62-year-old man, who is being treated for injuries believed to be self-inflicted, shortly after the attack on Monday night in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai. The city hosts the People’s Liberation Army’s annual aviation exhibition, which opened on Tuesday, and searches for what happened have been heavily censored for users behind China’s Great Firewall.

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

In one, shared by news blogger and dissident Li Ying, a woman says “my leg is broken.” The same video showed a firefighter performing CPR on one person while others were told to leave. Li, who is known on X as Professor Li, posts daily news based on user submissions.

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

On Tuesday, the police set up barricades at the entrance to the sports complex, denying people access. However, members of the public left bouquets near the square adjacent to the sports centre.

China has seen a series of attacks in which suspects appear to target members of the public at random.

In October, a man was detained after allegedly attacking children with a knife at a school in Beijing. Five people were injured. In September, three people were killed in a knife attack at a supermarket in Shanghai and 15 others were injured. 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 detained in Monday’s attack only by his typical surname of Fan and said he was unconscious and receiving medical treatment after being found in his car with a knife and injuries.

He was unhappy with the division of financial assets during his 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 major events, such as the air show or the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress.

For nearly 24 hours after the attack, it was not clear what the number of deaths or injuries was. On Tuesday morning, a search of the sports center on the Chinese social media platform Weibo turned up only a few posts, only a few referring to the fact that something happened, with no pictures or details. Chinese media articles from Monday evening about the incident have been removed.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for the perpetrator to be “strictly” punished according to the law in a statement late on Tuesday.

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

Guan and Wu write for the Associated Press. Wu reported from Bangkok. Associated Press reporters Elsie Chen and Didi Tang contributed from Washington, and researcher Yu Bing contributed from Beijing.