Five Dead After Man Drives Into Crowd, Throws Cash in The Air
Police officers in the Chinese city of Guangzhou We are seeking a motive for the disappearance of a 22 year-old man. drove his black BMW SUV was thrown into a crowd, killing five people and injuring thirteen.
Surveillance cameras caught the man moving at a slow speed and he seems to have swerved in order to hit as many people as possible. According to footage, he then began to throw paper money in the air every time he hit someone.
The incident that occurred in rush hour in the city home to 19 million people sparked immediate online outrage. according to the BBC. Various postings on Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter, show children among the victims.
“He deliberately drove into the people who were waiting for the traffic light,” one witness told Hongxin News. “He rammed the car into them maliciously. After that, he made a U-turn and hit people again.”
The witness added that he was not driving at high speed, “but some people couldn’t run away in time because they wouldn’t have known he was hitting people deliberately.”
The man then fled on his motorcycle to chase a police officer, who was not seriously injured. According to reports, rescue workers took over an hour to clear the scene of the accident and transport the injured and dead away.
One Weibo user described those caught up in the tragedy, writing, “The victims could be a girl who dressed up meticulously to go on a date… It could be a food deliveryman who earned five yuan after rushing an order. This could be a father who wanted dinner with his children at home. It could be a child who was happily shopping,” according to the BBC.
This was the second fatal car attack of this nature reported in the past year. It follows an incident that occurred in Shanghai on Monday, when a guest to a hotel drove his car into the lobby following an argument with the receptionist.
Police did not immediately release the name of the 22-year-old man in custody in Wednesday’s deadly incident.
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