Beijing, China experienced a horrifying incident today involving a minivan that crashed into a crowded farmers market. At least four people were killed and dozens have been injured. The scene is vivid in the mind as people recall that just days ago the death truck terror attack in Berlin at a Christmas market left at least 12 dead.
Driver of the minivan that crashed into the market was arrested
CCTV China English service broke the news shortly after the incident on their Twitter account. It was later picked up by the Sun who reported that it is too early to say at this stage whether this is a terror-related incident or just a dreadful and tragic accident.
#BREAKING 4 people dead, many injured after minivan drove into a farmer’s market in Beijing this afternoon, police say pic.twitter.com/gVUxQJ67bo
— CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) December 21, 2016
A spokesperson for the Public Security Bureau of the Beijing Municipality said that the injured have been taken to hospital for treatment. However, there is no indication yet that this might be related to any kind of terror attack and all they would say is that the police are investigating the incident.
China's State TV reported that the driver of the van has been arrested. Other reports coming in seem to suggest that the incident may not have happened in the middle of the city, but about 40kms away in a rural suburb outside the main city at Chikou Town in the Changping District.
The Changping farmers markets are well known for their good quality organic foods.
Terror attacks in China do happen but no proof this incident was one yet
In the current climate of terror, it is very often assumed that incidents such as this are possibly terror related. However, while there are acts of terror in China, they are by definition often different to how the western world perceives terror to operate.
Most of the terrorist acts in China seem to occur in the northern area of Xinjiang. In 2014 a horrifying attack that killed 31 people happened and AFP reported that "attackers ploughed two vehicles into an open-air market and threw explosives in Urumqi."
The last time there was a major terror incident reported in Beijing was in 2013 when a car blew up into flames in Tiananmen Square. At the time the Chinese Police said that the incident which killed five people and injured dozens was a "premeditated terrorist attack." They later made five arrests in connection with the attack.
