Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
AsiaWire
This is the moment a motorist rams a tent full of staff at a coronavirus checkpoint outside a gated community after being refused entry to see his parents until he followed procedure.
The visitor, named only as Mr Zhi, injured two staff members after driving through the tent with his Renault car on 17th February.
CCTV footage from the town of Beiqijia, which is in Beijing’s Changping District in the Chinese capital, shows Mr Zhi climbing back into the driver’s seat of his Renault at the entrance of the residential community where his mum and dad live.
According to local police, staff members manning the COVID-19 checkpoint have asked all visiting members of the public to log their names and vehicle number plates in order to ensure their presence is on record.
However, Mr Zhi was unwilling to cooperate and walked back to his stopped car, the video shows.
But moments later Mr Zhi drives towards the staff members, briefly stopping to let other pedestrians pass before ramming the blue tent next to the gated community’s entrance.
He drives into the structure, pulling down the canvas as he does so.
As the video ends, a number of staff members manage to escape on foot.
Changping District police said two checkpoint officers were injured by Mr Zhi’s car.
They suffered non-life-threatening injuries and are receiving treatment at Beijing Royal Integrative Medicine Hospital, reports said.
Mr Zhi was taken into custody for endangering public safety. It is unclear whether charges will be formally brought during the coronavirus outbreak.
In China, residential districts comprising thousands of households have been enforcing special measures to ensure the Wuhan coronavirus does not spread among their populations.
The deadly respiratory disease has so far killed 2,128 people worldwide, with the majority of them being in mainland China.
More than 75,700 cases have been confirmed worldwide.
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