BEIJING: A driver in an SUV ploughed into students and pedestrians outside a primary school in southern China on Tuesday, leaving several people injured, state media said, as worries spread over a spate of violent attacks in the country over the past week.
CCTV and other state media reported the vehicle hit people outside a primary school in Changde city in Hunan province as students were coming in for the day.
Many were injured, CCTV reported. A detailed injury count was not available, and it was not immediately clear what had caused the crash or whether it was intentional.
Reuters was unable to connect by phone to emergency services for Changde to seek comment.
The incident happened just over a week after a driver rammed his vehicle into a crowd at a sports centre in Zhuhai in southern China, killing 35 people and severely injuring 43 in the deadliest mass attack in China in a decade.
Short video clips circulating on Chinese social media on Tuesday showed young children running into the Changde school compound, shouting, “Help.”
One clip shows a compact, white SUV stopped beyond the school entrance. At least five people, including a student with a backpack, were lying on the path taken by the vehicle on the narrow street in front of the school, the videos show.
Someone can be heard shouting, “Call the police” as a man is surrounded by a crowd and apparently beaten with sticks and rods.
A separate clip shows a man handcuffed and being held down on wet cement by a figure in uniform. A woman’s voice says the person drove to the school by himself and crashed there.
Reuters was able to verify the location where the videos were shot matched the reported location for the crash at a primary school for children between about 6 and 12 years old.
“Why are such incidents happening more and more frequently lately, hit-and-runs, and always involving students? What has happened to society now?,” said one commentator on social media platform Weibo.
