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China: Vigil site at site of car mass killing cleared

November 13, 2024

Makeshift memorials have been cleared at the site of a deadly car ramming attack in the Chinese city of Zhuhai. Chinese authorities had already scrubbed social media after people complained of the attack response.

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The outside of a sports center in China where an attack took place
The scene was cleared after the attack, and authorities are said to have scrubbed images and videos from social mediaImage: dpa/picture alliance

Authorities in China's  southern city of Zhuhai removed tributes and candles for the dozens of victims of a car ramming attack on Monday, according to reports in news agencies.

A man drove his car into a crowd at a sports center, killing 35 people and injuring 43 others. It was the deadliest mass killing in China since 2014. 

It took authorities over a day to release details of the attack. An initial police statement said people had been injured but did not mention any deaths, and videos of the attack later appeared to be removed by online censors.

A photo of the scene outside a sporting complex in Zhuhai, China
Chinese authorities did not immediately release information about driver ramming his car into dozens of people Image: dpa/picture alliance

Attack site tributes cleared

Local residents began to order tributes to be dropped off by delivery drivers.

However, these were immediately removed by security personnel at the site, in some instances before the tribute could even be placed down, according to reporting from Reuters news agency. 

Outside the sports complex on Wednesday morning, AFP news agency reported residents and delivery drivers laying bouquets at a gate, but within minutes the flowers were carried behind a fence.

Cleaning staff told AFP they were acting on an "order from the top." 

What is known about the attack?

Details of the attack have trickled out with government taking a day to announce the death toll.

A Chinese fire truck
The attack was the deadliest mass killing in China since 2014Image: picture alliance/dpa/kyodo

Chinese police have also offered little information about the 62-year-old attacker beyond saying the man — identified only by his surname of Fan — was upset about his  divorce settlement.

He was arrested immediately after the attack as he tried to flee the scene on Monday night.

State broadcaster CCTV did not mention the attack in its 30-minute midday news bulletin, leading instead with President Xi Jinping's departure for the APEC summit in Peru.

Other state media, such as China Daily's Chinese language website, also prominently displayed the news of Xi's Peru trip.

The current affairs part of the publication's website and the local area page did not mention the incident either.

kb/wmr (Reuters, AFP, AP)