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    • Residents of southern Chinese city mourn 35 killed in car attack
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    Residents of southern Chinese city mourn 35 killed in car attack

    Online Niel Posted on

    Ng Han Guan, Emily Wang Fujiyama and Huizhong Wu
    | Associated Press

    Zhuhai, China — People in a southern Chinese city paid tribute Wednesday to 35 of its residents killed by a driver who crashed his vehicle into a sports complex, mowing down people as they were exercising.

    Police have released little information about the 62-year-old attacker, other than to say the man, identified only by the surname of Fan, was upset about his divorce settlement. He was arrested immediately after the attack as he tried to flee the scene in the city of Zhuhai on Monday night.

    The attack, which also seriously injured 43 people, took place on the eve of the Zhuhai Airshow, sponsored by the People’s Liberation Army and held every two years. China often goes to extra lengths to strictly control information about major or sensitive events.

    On Tuesday and Wednesday, Zhuhai residents laid flowers in honor of the victims in front of the Zhuhai People’s Fitness Plaza in southern Guangdong province. The police presence was light, although the number of officers later increased. The sports complex was closed until further notice.

    Police allowed the public to leave bouquets just outside the entrance to the sports complex, but volunteers then quickly moved the flowers inside the sports center.

    “May there be no bullies in heaven,” read a message on one of the bouquets. “Good deeds will be rewarded and bad deeds will be punished.”

    Chinese authorities are wary of what is said publicly about major disasters or violence, often censoring eyewitness accounts. It took almost 24 hours after the attack until information was made public with the exact number of victims.

    The videos, quickly censored inside China, circulated outside the Great Firewall. Most were posted by “Professor Li,” an artist-turned-dissident who has an X account with 1.7 million followers that posts crowdsourced videos about Chinese news.

    Chinese media articles featuring interviews with survivors were quickly removed on Monday and Tuesday. One of the articles said that among the many injured were elderly people who had joined the speed walking groups.

    Zhuhai residents were still processing the news of the attack.

    “It’s very shocking,” Dong Chilin said. “My husband goes jogging there every night. I called him right away… Fortunately, none of the people I know were there that day.”

    She said her two children have asked their father to stay away from the area for now.

    Another woman, who gave only her surname as Guan, said she drove past the site at around 8pm on Monday night but thought it was just a traffic accident. “Of course it was very shocking. It was very horrible.”

    Police said their preliminary investigation found Fan was unhappy with his divorce settlement, but provided no other information about the divorce or the alleged motive.

    Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for a strict punishment under the law in a statement late Tuesday.

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

    Wu reported from Bangkok.

    Online Niel
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