At least 35 people have been killed in a car attack in southern China, believed to be the deadliest known act of public violence in the country in decades.

Police say a man crashed his car into a stadium in Zhuhai on Monday where he ran down groups of people exercising on the sports track.

The “serious and vicious attack” also injured 45 people – among them elderly and children, local media report.

Police say the 62-year-old driver, identified as a Mr Fan, appeared to have acted out of unhappiness over a divorce settlement.

He was arrested as he tried to flee the Zhuhai Sports Center and is in a coma due to self-inflicted wounds, police said in a statement.

The incident has sparked a national outcry in China, where President Xi Jinping vowed “severe punishment” for the perpetrator, and called for “all-out efforts” to treat the injured.

Details of those who were killed have not been disclosed by authorities yet, but mourners and members of the public had begun laying flowers and other tributes outside the stadium on Tuesday.

The venue – featuring a running track loop – had been a popular exercise ground for locals. Witnesses told Chinese media it appeared Mr Fan had deliberately run people down.

One man named Mr Chen told Caixin news magazine he and his walking group had just completed a lap of the stadium when a car charged towards them at high speed, “knocking down many people”.

Another person at the scene told Caixin: “It drove in a loop and people were hurt in all areas of the running track.”

According to local police, who released a statement on Tuesday, they said their initial investigations suggested Mr Fan’s actions were triggered by a property dispute following his divorce. He is still in a coma and so has not been questioned, police said.

The attack may be the deadliest act of random public violence in China in recent decades. A number have been reported this year including a mass stabbing and firearms attack in Shandong in February which killed at least 21 people. That incident was heavily censored by Chinese authorities.

Reports of Monday’s attack were already being restricted online on Tuesday – with several videos taken by witnesses at the scene removed from Chinese social media platforms.

But some footage still circulating online showed dozens of people lying on the ground and being attended to by paramedics and bystanders.

In China it is common for censors to quickly take down social media videos which are linked to high-profile incidences of crime.

BBC journalists reporting from the stadium at Zhuhai on Tuesday were also harassed and told to stop filming.

China has seen a spate of violent attacks on members of the public in recent months that have been reported in local media to varying degrees.

In October, a knife attack at a top school in Beijing injured five people, while in September, a man went on a stabbing spree at a supermarket in Shanghai, killing three people and injuring several others.

Also in September, a 10-year-old Japanese student died a day after he was stabbed near his school in southern China.

Following Monday’s car attack, Japan’s embassy warned its nationals living in the country to avoid speaking Japanese loudly in public.

The incident in Zhuhai has also taken place during heightened security in the city, which is hosting a major military airshow this week. The attack on Monday night took place 40km (24 miles) from where the high-profile Airshow China kicked off on Tuesday.

China is showcasing its newest warplanes and attack drones at the show, which top Russian defence official and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu is expected to attend.

Several entrances and exits to the sports centre were closed during the airshow to facilitate “control”, the centre’s management said on Tuesday.

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