ZHUHAI, China (Kyodo) -- A car rammed into pedestrians at a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, leaving 35 dead and injuring 43, with the driver detained at the scene, local police said Tuesday.

The Zhuhai police said investigations are under way over the incident that happened Monday evening, in which the 62-year-old driver, surnamed Fan, has been arrested. It occurred a day before a major air show opened in the city.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed those in charge to make "all-out efforts to treat the people injured" and "demanded punishing the perpetrator in accordance with the law," according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao said Tuesday the suspect's motive has not been disclosed. The sports center is a popular spot for local joggers and walkers, with private cars prohibited from entering the site.

Videos posted online immediately after the accident showed numerous people lying motionless in pools of blood. By late Monday night, Chinese media reports and images on social media had been deleted, and it is suspected that authorities were controlling information before the air show started.

Ming Pao quoted a witness who filmed the scene as saying the driver of the sport utility vehicle was holding a knife and resisted arrest before being detained. When Japan's public broadcaster aired news about the incident on its overseas program, the broadcast was temporarily blacked out in China.

Zhuhai, located on the border of Macao, has a population of some 2.5 million and hosts many foreign companies.

The Chinese military's new J-35 stealth fighter and J-15 carrier-based fighter jets are among the aircraft shown at the biennial China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, which will run through Sunday.

Russia's fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet was exhibited for the first time at the airshow.