Advertisement
Advertisement
Crime in China
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
A man has been detained on suspicion of killing two people and injuring 16 in east China on Saturday. Photo: AP

Two killed, 16 hurt in China as knife-wielding man drives into crowd of pedestrians

Suspect was apparently enraged by a ‘personal conflict’, authorities in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, say

Two people were killed and 16 wounded after a knife-wielding man drove a vehicle into a crowd of pedestrians in an east China city on Saturday night, local authorities said.

The suspect, identified only by his surname, Wang, was apparently enraged by a “personal conflict” when he committed the attack, the Beilun district government in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, said in a statement on its microblog.

The case is under investigation, it said, but provided no other details.

Cyclist who killed machete-wielding BMW driver triggers heated debate in China over right to self-defence

The incident follows an attack last month in which 11 people were killed and 44 injured after a man drove an SUV deliberately into people at a plaza in central China’s Hunan province, before jumping out and attacking victims with a dagger and shovel.

The Hengyang city government said the suspect in that case had previous convictions for crimes including drug trafficking, theft and assault and, acting alone, had sought to “get revenge on society”.

Such attacks – generally blamed on mental illness, alienation from society or personal disputes – continue to occur despite China having one of the world’s most extensive domestic surveillance and security networks.

Hero son dies while defending his mother in northern China marketplace

Many of the incidents have occurred at schools, including a chain of attacks in 2010 in which nearly 20 children were killed.

In June, a man used a kitchen knife to kill two children in Shanghai, and last year, eight people were killed when a man set off an explosion at the front gate of a kindergarten in eastern China as relatives gathered to pick up children.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Two killed in vehicle and knife attack in Zhejiang
Post