At least 35 people were killed and 43 others sustained injuries after a man rammed his car into people at a sports centre in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai which is hosting the country’s biggest annual air show this week.
Police detained a 62-year-old man suspected of hitting the joggers and speeding off on Monday evening, according to the state media. The alleged driver, identified as Mr Fan, drove his SUV through a barrier at Zhuhai Sports Centre in what local police say was a “serious and vicious attack”. He is in a coma and being treated for wounds thought to be self-inflicted.
Initial investigations suggested the attack had been triggered by unhappiness over a divorce property settlement, police said. Because he is still in a coma, he has yet to be questioned.
I’m surprised – it seems to me like the opposite of traditional Chinese society to take a personal tragedy such as a divorce and make it so many people’s personal tragedy. Societal harmony is a key piece of their ideology and Communism hasn’t really beaten that out of them as far as I know.
I suppose that if you were at the end of your career and you thought you’d have enough to retire and suddenly you were facing social and financial peril like that, every society has people who might react badly and do things that normally wouldn’t be tolerated by society, especially in a society that’s so focused on family bonds.