Summary

A white SUV was driven into a crowd outside Yong’an Primary School in Hunan, China, injuring several students and adults.

Parents and bystanders subdued the driver, who was handed to police.

While no life-threatening injuries were reported, this is the third crowd attack in China this week, raising alarms about public safety.

The incidents have ignited online discussions about the growing trend of “taking revenge on society,” where individuals target strangers in response to personal grievances.

  • @stellargmite
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    35 hours ago

    According to police records, there have been 19 incidents of indiscriminate violence in China this year in which the perpetrator was not known to the victims. Sixty-three people have been killed and 166 injured in these attacks. This is a sharp increase on previous years - 16 killed and 40 injured in 2023, for instance. While the incidents are still sporadic and rare, they are high-profile. And the videos that often circulate soon after on social media have prompted concern and fear among people. “These are symptoms of a society with a lot of pent-up grievances,” Lynette Ong, distinguished professor of Chinese politics at Canada’s University of Toronto, told AFP. “Some people resort to giving up. Others, if they’re angry, want to take revenge.” A slowing economy, high youth unemployment and a property crisis that has hurt savings have led to increasing uncertainty about the future among Chinese people.