On October 22, a car-ramming incident occurred near an elementary school in Shiyan, Hubei Province, injuring multiple students and attracting widespread attention. As of the time of publication, more than 48 hours have passed since the incident, and local authorities have yet to release a situation report, leading to various speculations about the casualties and the cause of the accident.
It is reported that the incident occurred near the Chongqing Road Elementary School in Maojian District, Shiyan City, at the intersection of Wenxiu Road and Shandong Road. Witnesses said that the incident occurred during school dismissal, and the car, after overtaking and running a red light, drove straight into the crowd on the roadside. Local police said that the driver has been apprehended, and the case is under investigation, with an official announcement to follow.
After the incident, many parents of students at Chongqing Road Elementary School said that the school has resumed classes as usual in recent days, and the police have increased patrols on the section of road where the incident occurred, but the school has not yet informed them of the cause of the incident. “As parents, don’t we even have this right to know?” Some parents called the Shiyan traffic management service hotline, and the staff told them: “This is a malicious incident and is not under their jurisdiction.” However, the author later called the traffic management hotline, and the staff said they were not aware of the relevant incident.
Some parents of students and nearby residents told the author that some of the people hit have died in the incident, but this information has not yet been officially confirmed. Also, a parent of a student who was allegedly hit told the author, “As the mother of a victim, I am very depressed! When will we victims get an explanation!”
Simplified diagram of the car’s trajectory @zyh
According to previous reports, the incident occurred during the peak dismissal time of Chongqing Road Elementary School. Ms. Wu (pseudonym), who went to pick up her child, witnessed the incident. Online videos show that the car was initially traveling east on Wenxiu Road. Ms. Wu told the author that when the car reached the intersection, it first stopped in the left lane waiting for the traffic light, with a car stopped in front of it. “He (the driver) was still waiting for the red light, and then suddenly ran the red light, went straight towards the people, didn’t brake, didn’t honk, and didn’t signal.”
A dashcam video circulating online recorded the scene of the car hitting people. The video shows that at around 17:29 on October 22, a white car overtook from its left side and ran a red light, then drove straight towards the crowd waiting for the red light in front of it. Another video circulating online shows that after the incident, many people were injured and fell to the ground, including children with backpacks.
“The speed was too fast, no one ran at the time, and there was no time to react,” Ms. Wu said. Many people were hit at the scene, including elementary school students. The car continued to drive for a distance after hitting people before stopping. “People were thrown into the air, and there was a shoe on the windshield.”
Photos from the scene show that the car involved was a white “BYD Qin” sedan with the license plate number “E C F66780”. After the incident, the author called the BYD customer service hotline multiple times, and the staff said that without the owner’s information and the vehicle identification number, they could not find the relevant accident report based on the license plate number alone.
On the evening of October 22, the author called and consulted multiple local government departments. A staff member from the Maojian Branch of the Shiyan Municipal Public Security Bureau said that the police were investigating the matter and could not disclose the details of the case; a duty officer from the Maojian District Education Bureau said that after the incident on the afternoon of the 22nd, relevant leaders of the Education Bureau had rushed to the scene, but they were not clear about the situation; a staff member from the Maojian District Government Office said that the relevant information would need to wait for an official announcement.
On October 23, a person claiming to be a staff member of the Shiyan Municipal Public Security Bureau told the author that the police had apprehended the driver, and the case was under further investigation.
Discover more from 自由档案馆
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.