On the evening of April 22, in Wumeng Township, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, a tragic incident occurred in front of the Center Elementary School where a car crashed into a crowd of people. Despite official efforts to suppress information, insiders revealed to reporters that the incident resulted in the deaths of 6 individuals. Family members were not allowed to take photos of the bodies and were reportedly offered a meager compensation of 200,000 yuan under the guise of humanitarian aid.
At 5:45 p.m. on April 22, a silver-gray sedan suddenly accelerated towards the crowd in front of the school. The timing was particularly unfortunate as it coincided with students leaving school, parents picking up their children, and the general public heading home from work, leading to significant casualties.
Following the incident, authorities rigorously controlled the flow of information, making it challenging to find videos on social media. It wasn’t until the following evening that netizens began commenting on the incident, with sporadic posts emerging. Official media reports had already been deleted. An informant stated that the authorities in Jinhua took immediate action to suppress information. However, videos of the incident had already circulated within local WeChat groups.
The informant further revealed that the driver deliberately targeted the crowd during the time when students were leaving school and parents were present at the school gate. The driver recklessly plowed through the crowd. One father had just dropped off his own son in the car and was returning to pick up another student when he was struck by the car and fell into a pool of blood. His son witnessed the entire incident and immediately called his mother, distraught and in shock.
The mother, trying to shield her child from the news of the father’s passing, temporarily sent the child to stay with a classmate. The informant disclosed that 6 individuals died as a result of the incident, with the exact number of injured individuals unknown, information only available to the authorities.
It was revealed that although the father likely died on the spot, he was still rushed to the hospital for treatment. The family waited anxiously outside the ICU, only to be informed that he had passed away. Upon seeing the body, the family noticed the severe injuries, with the head severely disfigured and significant injuries around the mouth. The police present prevented the family from taking photographs.
The deceased father was a small business owner with a workshop, while his wife was a homemaker. His sudden death left his wife feeling lost and uncertain about the future. The informant stated that the family demanded the government take responsibility for the incident, but they were offered a mere 200,000 yuan in compensation, with no information provided about the driver, who authorities simply described as a psychiatric patient.
Despite seeking answers from other families of the victims through the school, the authorities remained tight-lipped and provided no information.
Efforts to reach the school’s administration by phone were unsuccessful.
Public records indicate that the Center Elementary School in Wumeng Township, Jinhua City, was established in 1927 and had approximately 996 students and over fifty staff members as of 2025.
While the authorities tried to censor information, the motive behind the driver’s actions remains unclear to the public. However, many believe it could be linked to social retaliation. According to CNN, amid China’s escalating economic challenges, people are becoming increasingly “desperate and unstable,” leading them to seek retribution from society.
Similar incidents have occurred frequently in mainland China in recent times. On November 11 last year, a car plowed into a crowd in a sports center in Zhuhai, Guangdong, resulting in 35 fatalities and 43 injuries. On the 16th of the same month, a knife attack at the Yixing School of Arts and Crafts in Wuxi, Jiangsu, claimed 8 lives and left 17 injured. On the 19th of the month, multiple students and parents were injured in front of the Yong’an Elementary School in Dingcheng District, Changde, Hunan, when a suspect drove a car into the crowd. On the evening of April 22, a similar tragic incident occurred in front of the Center Elementary School in Wumeng Township, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, resulting in 6 fatalities.