Driver sentenced to death in China for killing 35 people

A man who killed 35 people in a car attack in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai last month was sentenced to death on Friday, according to state media reports.

On November 11, 62-year-old Fan Weiqiu deliberately drove his small SUV into a group of people exercising outside a sports complex, in what has been described as the worst attack in China since 2014.

He was detained at the scene with self-inflicted knife wounds and subsequently fell into a coma, according to police.

Fan’s case was publicly tried on Friday, and the court delivered its verdict the same day, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The court described the defendant’s motives as “extremely vile,” stating that the crime was “egregious in nature, cruel in method, and severe in consequence,” with significant harm caused to society.

Fan pleaded guilty during the trial, which was attended by some of the victims’ families, officials, and members of the public, according to reports.

The court determined that Fan had carried out the attack to “vent his anger” over “a broken marriage, personal frustrations, and dissatisfaction with the division of property after divorce.”

China has witnessed a series of mass casualty incidents this year — including stabbings and car attacks — raising concerns about public security. Some analysts have attributed these incidents to growing discontent linked to the country’s slowing economy and increasing social inequality.

AFP

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