At least 11 people died and 44 were injured after a man drove his car into a crowd in southern China’s Hunan province on Wednesday, reported The Guardian. The man then purportedly went on a stabbing spree in Binjiang square in Hengyang city. Many of the victims have stab wounds.
Government officials have detained the driver, Yang Zanyun, according to state-run Global Times. Yang has a criminal record. Some reports claimed he is 20 years old while others said he is 54.
Officials have not said if the incident was terror-related but described it as a “deliberate, malicious case of driving with intent to injure”. The injured people have been taken to hospital and investigations are on.
“[The suspect] has been sentenced many times for drug trafficking, theft, and other crimes, creating a desire for revenge on society,” the Hengyang government said in a statement published on its microblog.
Video footage on social media showed several people lying on the ground in pools of blood and panicked crowds gathering around, according to the South China Morning Post.
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