The incident underscores recurring patterns of public violence in China amid strict censorship of such events. 

By Ren Ziyou (Taipei) | Radio Free Asia

Summary

A private car rammed into a crowd outside Su Meng Primary School in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China, during school dismissal on Tuesday, April 22, with unverified online reports claiming 14 deaths (including nine elementary students) and chaotic scenes of bloodshed and rescue efforts.

Authorities are restricting information and have not confirmed casualty figures, although local police indirectly acknowledged that the incident did occur. Social media posts, including footage and WeChat records shared by former state media reporter Wang Zhian, suggest possible intentional targeting, raising questions about links to an ongoing series of “lone wolf” attacks that have rocked the country in recent years. In November 2023, a car ramming outside Zhuhai stadium sports center in Zhuhai, Guangdong, killed 35 and injured 43. The incident, one of the country’s deadliest in decades, was followed five days later by a knife attack at a vocational college in eastern China, killing 8. The perpetrators for each of these attacks were executed on January 20 of this year.

The latest incident in Jinhua underscores recurring patterns of public violence in China amid strict censorship of such events. 

Read the report at the publisher’s website here.

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