China: Death sentence for driver who killed 35 in car attack

State media in China reported Friday that the man who killed 35 people and injured 43 others in a car-ramming attack has been sentenced to death.

"(The court) publicly tried the case of defendant Fan W. for endangering public safety through dangerous methods and delivered a verdict on the same day. Fan W. was sentenced to death," state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Court says motives 'extremely vile'

The court described the defendant's motives as "extremely vile, the nature of the crime extremely egregious, the methods particularly cruel, and the consequences particularly severe, posing significant harm to society", state media reported.

The court found that Fan was angry over his divorce settlement.

The attack took place in the southern city of Zhuhai and was the deadliest mass killing in China since 2014.

Fan was arrested by police immediately after the attack.

An initial police statement said people had been injured but did not mention any deaths, and videos of the attack later appeared to be removed by online censors.

Floral tributes that had been dropped off at the scene of the attack were also removed by security personnel at the site.

Mass killings in China

China has experienced a spate of violent attacks in recent months. In November eight people were stabbed to death in the eastern city of Wuxi.

In October, a man killed three people and wounded 15 others in a knife attack at a Shanghai supermarket.

And the month before, a Japanese schoolboy was fatally stabbed in the southern city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong.

In the days following the attack, Chinese leader Xi Jinping ordered local governments to take steps to prevent future "extreme cases."

kb/dj (AFP, Reuters)