TEMPO.CO, Beijing - A ride-sharing passenger in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou was raped and killed, allegedly by a driver for the country's largest ride-hailing firm, local police said on Saturday, the latest violent crime to fuel safety concerns about the service.
Didi Chuxing, the biggest ride-sharing firm globally by the number of trips, was "immensely saddened by the tragedy," it said in a statement.
A day earlier, a passenger had complained to Didi that the same driver had repeatedly requested that she sit in the front seat, drove to a remote area, and followed her "for a distance" after she got out of the car, Didi said. It said the customer service representative who took the complaint had not followed up with an investigation within two hours, as the firm promises.
Didi Chuxing - which has been valued at $50 billion and counts SoftBank Group Corp as a major investor - is aggressively expanding overseas, targeting new markets in Mexico, Brazil and Australia, going head-to-head with Uber. In 2016, Didi acquired Uber's China business.