ZHUHAI, China: A man killed 35 people and injured 43 more when he ploughed his car into people exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday, local police said Tuesday. The toll was a dramatic increase from the initial incident report the day before, when police only said that people had been injured, with videos apparently scrubbed from social media.

A 62-year-old man surnamed Fan drove his small SUV through the gate and “forced his way into the city’s sports center, ramming people who were exercising on the internal roads”, police said Tuesday. Preliminary investigations suggested Fan’s attack had been “triggered by (his) dissatisfaction with the division of property following his divorce”, their statement said.

Footage from Monday night geolocated by AFP showed people lying motionless on the ground, while others were seen frantically attempting to resuscitate the unconscious. An eyewitness surnamed Chen told Chinese news magazine Caixin it was common for groups to take daily walks on the dedicated track around the stadium. He had just completed his third lap on Monday when a car suddenly sped at them and knocked down “many people”, but he was able to jump aside.

Another eyewitness surnamed Liu told Caixin that the car “drove in a loop”. “People were hurt in all areas of the running track — east, south, west, and north,” he said. Fan was “controlled on the spot” as he attempted to drive away, police said Tuesday. He was found in his car cutting himself with a knife, and is currently in a coma after self-inflicted injuries to his neck and other parts of his body, unable to undergo interrogation, they added. The 43 people wounded are not currently in life-threatening condition, police said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged “all-out efforts” to treat the injured and has “demanded punishing the perpetrator in accordance with the law”, according to state news agency Xinhua. China’s largest airshow showcasing Beijing’s civil and military aerospace sector is being held in Zhuhai at the moment.

There were fewer than 20 people at the sports stadium on Tuesday night when AFP visited the scene. Some of them were attempting to film videos but were blocked by a police car and security guards shouting “No filming!” At another entrance, candles flickered at a makeshift memorial where people were sending online flower deliveries. One delivery driver told AFP he had already brought 10 orders there that night.

Security was also high in front of the emergency room of a nearby hospital, where a huge group of doctors and nurses were milling about. After the announcement of the death toll, the news shot to the top of the trending topics on Chinese social media, with tens of millions of views. The graphic videos that circulated on social media on Monday night showing the aftermath of the incident had mostly disappeared though.

On Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, users expressed their shock at the sudden rise in fatalities. “Last night after work, when I watched the news, there weren’t this many people reported,” one user commented on a photo of the police statement released. “Tonight, suddenly seeing this number — so many families affected.” Videos on the social media platform showed Zhuhai residents queuing up at blood donation centers and hospitals.

One Weibo user wrote: “Even in today’s highly connected world, it took over 24 hours to learn about this incident.” Others expressed shock. “I don’t know what to say, but I hope this kind of sickness does not spread,” wrote one. The death toll “makes every pore on my body stand on end,” said another.

In a safety alert, Japan’s embassy in China warned its citizens on Tuesday to be on high alert and “refrain from speaking loudly in Japanese and avoid provocative, attention-drawing behavior such as being loud in groups”. The embassy said it had no information that any Japanese citizens had been wounded in the attack.

China has seen a spate of violent public attacks in recent months — including when a Japanese schoolboy was fatally stabbed in the neighboring city of Shenzhen in September, prompting outrage from Tokyo. A man killed three people and wounded 15 in a knife attack at a supermarket in Shanghai in October. And in July, police said a vehicle crashed into pedestrians in the central city of Changsha, killing eight. – Agencies