BEIJING: As concerns grew about a wave of violent incidents in the nation over the past week, an SUV driver crashed into pupils and pedestrians outside a southern Chinese primary school on Tuesday, injuring multiple people, according to official media.
The SUV struck individuals outside a primary school in Changde city, Hunan province, as pupils were arriving for the day, according to CCTV and other official media.
According to CCTV, numerous spectators were hurt; police stated that none of them had life-threatening injuries and that they were sent to the hospital “as soon as possible.”
The number of people injured was not specified by the police. Without providing details about how the event happened, police said in a statement that a 39-year-old man had been taken into custody and that investigations were ongoing.
Ahead of a soccer World Cup qualifying match between the two countries, Tokyo issued a warning to Japanese people following Tuesday’s event. The match proceeded, but was momentarily disrupted by a fan wearing nationalistic slogans who ran onto the field. Earlier this year, public stabbings targeted Japanese citizens.
Videos of small children yelling, “Help!” as they ran into the Changde school compound have been making the rounds on Chinese social media. A small, white SUV was seen in one clip parked outside the school’s door.
The films show that at least five individuals, including a kid carrying a backpack, were lying on the path the car took in a little street in front of the school.
