Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the off-road vehicle collision incident in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province. According to reports from Japanese media, on that day near the Zhuhai Sports Center where the incident occurred, security was tight with a large number of police officers deployed, and the local government planned to renovate the area.
On November 11 last year, the Zhuhai Sports Center witnessed a tragic incident where an off-road vehicle plowed into a crowd, resulting in at least 35 deaths and 43 serious injuries. This was the deadliest mass casualty event in China last year. As reported by Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), on the anniversary of the incident, a significant police presence was deployed around the scene.
Reports indicate that the Zhuhai Sports Center remains closed to this day, and the local government has revealed plans for renovation and construction in the area.
According to a report by the Japanese newspaper Nikkei last year, the day after the incident, during a news program broadcast by NHK overseas, the coverage of the event was interrupted, and the screen displayed “signal abnormality.”
The report stated that the specific reasons for the interruption were unclear, but speculations suggested that Chinese authorities were concerned that widespread knowledge of the incident would exacerbate social unrest. Despite reports from the authorities and controlled coverage in Chinese state media, discussions about the incident on social media platforms have been restricted.
The driver responsible for the incident, Fan Weiqiu, was sentenced to death for “endangering public safety by dangerous means” on December 27 last year, with deprivation of political rights for life. Less than three months after the incident, he was swiftly executed in January this year, drawing widespread attention due to the speed of the legal process.
In the aftermath of the incident, the Mayor of Zhuhai, Huang Zhihao, and the Deputy Mayor who also served as the Director of the Public Security Bureau, Xie Rensi, both resigned on December 8 last year. Changes in leadership also occurred in the site of the incident, as the Secretary of the Xiangzhou district committee in Zhuhai was replaced, and both the district head and deputy district head of Xiangzhou district also tendered their resignations.