A car accident at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport in South China's Guangdong province has left nine people dead as of 11 pm, local police said on Sunday.
At 3:32 pm, a red sedan ran over several pedestrians near Terminal 3 of the airport, killing five on the scene and injuring 27 others, local police said on its verified microblog. Four died later in hospital.
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The city's emergency center said the injured have been rushed to five hospitals. Five are still in a critical condition and another one is badly wounded.
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The driver, a 24-year-old female who allegedly lost control of her vehicle after a honking car made her nervous, has been taken in for questioning by the police.
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Initial investigation showed some 30 people were standing on a platform to view takeoffs and landings of planes and take photos when the car rammed into them. The platform is part of a driveway, not designed for pedestrians.
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Huang Jiangtao, a witness who narrowly escaped the accident, told Xinhua that he did not realize pedestrians are banned from the area because there were neither signs nor staff workers to caution them.
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However, a spokesperson of the airport said their guards patrol the area and disperse people on daily basis. The airport will add warning signs and increase patrols in future, the spokesperson said.Â