At least 11 killed and dozens injured in southern China after suspected convict drives SUV into crowded square

Screenshot/PM Breaking News/Twitter

A vehicular attack killed at least nine people and injured 43 in China's Hengyang city.

• At least 11 people were killed and dozens more were injured after a vehicle rammed into a crowd of people in a busy square in the central city of Hengyang on Wednesday.
• Officials described the attack as a "deliberate, malicious case of driving with intent to injure," but it was not immediately clear whether the incident was being investigated as a terror attack.
• In 2013, a truck ran into a crowd in front of Beijing's Forbidden City, killing five people

At least 11 people were killed and dozens more were injured after a car rammed into a crowd of people in Binjiang square in the central city of Hengyang on Wednesday evening.

The attack happened at at 7:40 p.m. local time in the city's busy square where a dance event was being held.  Local media reported that some victims appeared to have been stabbed.

Officials described the attack as a "deliberate, malicious case of driving with intent to injure," the BBC reported, but it was not immediately clear whether the incident was being investigated as a terror attack.

Police identified the suspect as 54-year-old Yang Zanyun, according to Chinese state media. 

Video from the event shows people fleeing the scene on foot. 

China has experienced attacks in public spaces before.

In 2013, a truck ran into a crowd in front of Beijing's Forbidden City, killing five people. The event was believed to be a terror attack and the assailants appeared to be Uighurs from China's northwest Xinjiang region.