SUV Plows Into Crowd in Zhuhai, Causing Dozens of Casualties; Videos Deleted From Social Media

On the evening of November 11, a 62-year-old man named Fan drove an SUV through the track at the Zhuhai Sports Center in Xiangzhou District, Guangdong, indiscriminately striking people. Witnesses reported that dozens, if not hundreds, were hit. (screenshot from the internet)

[People News] Just before the China (Zhuhai) International Airshow, a tragic incident occurred on Monday evening (the 11th) at the Zhuhai Sports Center, where a man drove an SUV into a crowd on the sports center’s outer track. Images and videos from the scene show injured people scattered within a 50-meter radius.

According to Radio Free Asia, an eyewitness who was not hit described the scene: “A car suddenly came in, knocking down all these runners. It was terrifying. My legs are still weak. Look at all these people lying there—what can be done? It’s horrifying. My hands are shaking. [The driver] drove in circles, running into people—who knows if any of them survived.”

Online sources report that the driver attempted to flee but was intercepted by police about two kilometers away. Mr. Chen, a resident of Zhuhai's Gongbei area, told the station on Tuesday morning, “There were certainly many fatalities. Many people in Zhuhai were out running and walking that evening, and that car plowed through the crowd in a loop. Some were critically injured and are still fighting for their lives. The death toll is definitely not final. This seems like a social revenge attack, not an ordinary traffic accident.”

According to a police report from the Zhuhai Municipal Public Security Bureau’s Xiangzhou branch, a small car struck several pedestrians at around 7:48 p.m. near the Xiangzhou Sports Center and then fled. The 62-year-old male driver has been detained.

Jiu Pai News reported that at the time of the incident, an SUV suddenly rushed into a crowd on the sports center track, leaving behind bloodstains and scattered shoes.

Intentional Ramming Incidents Not New in Guangdong

Last year, on January 11, in Guangzhou’s Tianhe District, a driver in a BMW deliberately plowed into a crowd multiple times, resulting in six deaths and 29 injuries. The driver was sentenced to death in the first trial.

Mr. Chen, the resident from Zhuhai, noted that these incidents are increasingly common, possibly due to economic and social pressures: “It’s closely related to society, the system, and the economy. From what I understand, the government has taken significant measures to prevent such incidents, but prevention is hard. This type of incident could increase next year and become even more serious.”

Social Media Discussion of the Incident Censored

As Zhuhai prepares to host the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition on November 12, related videos are being tightly controlled online. Footage that circulated on Douyin (Chinese TikTok) the previous day has since been blocked. Discussions about “Zhuhai Sports Center” were restricted across multiple platforms, and videos and photos were urgently deleted by authorities.

In addition, some social media posts mentioned the involvement of “foreign forces,” suggesting the incident might have been influenced by external interference. Some neighborhood groups in Zhuhai even issued notifications asking Party members to “positively guide public opinion” and urging citizens to remain calm and avoid spreading negative information. This prompted skepticism among some internet users. One commenter mocked, “Everything can be blamed on foreign forces,” while others noted, “Blocking the news doesn’t solve the problem.”

Gu, a current affairs commentator in Guangdong, told the station that China’s current economic environment faces significant pressure, especially regarding social and psychological issues related to unemployment. He remarked, “The economic downturn has made people extremely irritable and resentful. This could be an important factor. Incidents like this are becoming more frequent; there’s a major problem in society. People at the grassroots level don’t care who’s responsible—they just want to take revenge on society, regardless of who or what caused this situation.”

Currently, the Zhuhai Sports Center has been temporarily closed, and the nearby bus stop, “Sports Center,” has been suspended. Further investigation into the incident is ongoing.