Driver detained after car plows into people exercising in Chinese city

HONG KONG — Police in southern China have detained the driver of a car that plowed into people exercising in the grounds of an outdoor sports center on Monday evening, leaving scores injured.

A car “hit multiple pedestrians and then fled the scene” at the Zhuhai Sports Center in the southern city of Zhuhai at around 8 p.m. Monday, police said in a statement.

The driver, a 62-year-old man, is in police custody, the statement said, adding that investigations are underway.

State media reported that the injured were sent to four hospitals for treatment, and one of them received more than 20 people. Chinese authorities did not provide any information on the number of casualties.

The hit-and-run took place on the eve of China’s biggest civil and military airshow, which runs from November 12 to 17 in Zhuhai.

Online videos of the aftermath, geolocated by CNN, show scores of people lying on jogging tracks and nearby grounds, with shoes scattered around.

Many of the injured were in sports outfits, including the uniforms of at least two local fitness walking groups.

Chinese media outlet Caixin reported that the vehicle, a SUV, crashed into multiple fitness walking groups hitting dozens of participants. Many of the injured were middle-aged and elderly, though teenagers and children were also among them, Caixin reported.

“(The vehicle) struck all around, injuring people in various sections of the sports field’s circular track, across the eastern, southern, western, and northern areas,” a witness surnamed Liu told Caixin.

The Zhuhai Sports Center features an outdoor track and field and is frequented by local residents for daily exercises. Following the incident, the center announced it would be closed until further notice.

China, a country of 1.4 billion, generally has low violent crime rates. But it has faced a spate of attacks targeting random members of the public, including school children, in recent months.

In October, police arrested a 50-year-old man after a stabbing attack near an elementary school in Beijing injured five people, including three children.

In September, three people were killed and 15 others injured in a knife attack at a suburban supermarket in Shanghai.

Also in September, a bus crashed into a crowd of students and parents outside a school in Tai’an city in Shandong province, killing 11 people and injuring 13 others. Chinese authorities did not reveal whether it was accidental or deliberate. — CNN