“NO FILMING”
There were fewer than 20 people at the sports stadium on Tuesday night when AFP visited the scene.
Some of them were attempting to film videos but were blocked by a police car and security guards shouting “No filming!”
At another entrance, candles flickered at a makeshift memorial where people were sending online flower deliveries.
One delivery driver told AFP he had already brought 10 orders there that night.
Security was also high in front of the emergency room of a nearby hospital, where a huge group of doctors and nurses were milling about.
After the announcement of the death toll, the news shot to the top of the trending topics on Chinese social media, with tens of millions of views.
The graphic videos that circulated on social media on Monday night showing the aftermath of the incident had mostly disappeared though.
On Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, users expressed their shock at the sudden rise in fatalities.
“Last night after work, when I watched the news, there weren’t this many people reported,” one user commented on a photo of the police statement released. “Tonight, suddenly seeing this number – so many families affected.”
Videos on the social media platform showed Zhuhai residents queuing up at blood donation centres and hospitals.
SAFETY ALERT
In a safety alert, Japan’s embassy in China warned its citizens on Tuesday to be on high alert and “refrain from speaking loudly in Japanese and avoid provocative, attention-drawing behaviour such as being loud in groups”.
The embassy said it had no information that any Japanese citizens had been wounded in the attack.
China has seen a spate of violent public attacks in recent months.
A man killed three people and wounded 15 in a knife attack at a supermarket in the Chinese megacity of Shanghai in October.
In September, a Japanese schoolboy was stabbed in the southern city of Shenzhen and died of his injuries, prompting outrage from Tokyo.
And in July, police said a vehicle crashed into pedestrians in the central city of Changsha, killing eight.
