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Chinese man sentenced to death for killing 35 people by driving into a crowd

A police officer keeps watch as people remove flower bouquets placed outside the sports centre where a deadly car attack took place. (Reuters: Tingshu Wang)

In short:

A driver who rammed his car into a crowd in southern China's Zhuhai city has been sentenced to death.

At least 35 people and injured 43 took place on November 11.

Information about China's deadliest mass killing in years was heavily censored by the country at the time.

A Chinese court has sentenced a man to death for killing 35 people last month by driving into crowd.

The attack, which took place on November 11, is one of the deadliest attacks in contemporary Chinese history.

The court in the southern city of Zhuhai handed down the sentence on Friday to Fan Weiqiu, stating the nature of the crime was extremely vile, the means were particularly cruel and the consequences were particularly severe.

Discontented with how property was divided in his divorce, the court heard Fan "deliberately drove into the crowd to vent his anger".

Chinese man sentenced to death for killing 35 people by driving into a crowd

The attack occurred outside a sports centre in the southern city of Zhuhai.  (Reuters)

Fan's vehicle hit people who were exercising at a local sports centre, causing serious casualties, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

The news agency added that Fan admitted to his guilt.

"A serious and vicious attack occurred at the Zhuhai Sports Centre, in which the suspect rammed a car into people who were exercising, resulting in 35 deaths and 43 injuries," police said after the attack.

Information heavily censored

At the time of the attack, details were scarce as authorities censored information.

Online footage showed bodies lying on the pavement in the hours after the crash, but they vanished soon after.

Authorities were seen clearing candles and flowers from the memorial. 

Officials took nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died in what became one of the country's deadliest incidents in a decade.

Censorship of Zhuhai mass killing

Photo shows A man lays flowers outside where a man rammed his car into people

Chinese man sentenced to death for killing 35 people by driving into a crowd

President Xi Jinping has called for strict punishment of the perpetrator, about whom authorities have provided little information.

A search on Weibo for the sports centre only turned up a few posts, with only a couple referring to the fact something had happened, without pictures or details.

Articles by Chinese media about the incident were taken down.

Chinese internet censors take extra care to scrub social media ahead of and during major events, such as the meeting of the National People's Congress, where the government announces its major policy initiatives for the coming year.

Reuters/AP

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