Three children, two parents and a teacher have been killed in a knife attack at a kindergarten in China
- At least six people have been killed in a violent outburst at a kindergarten in China
- The suspect, a 25-year-old man nicknamed Wu, has been taken into custody
Six people were killed and one injured in an attack on a kindergarten in southern China’s Guangdong province on Monday, a city government spokeswoman said.
“The victims include a teacher, two parents and three students,” she said during the rampage that took place around 7:40 am (2340 GMT on Sunday).
She did not provide details on the identity or age of the victims, nor on the weapon used in the attack in Lianjiang city, but reports suggested the victims had been stabbed.
The suspect, a 25-year-old man nicknamed Wu, was arrested according to a statement from local police and the city’s spokeswoman.
It comes amid a surge in violent crime in China, where the economy has grown in recent decades and the gap between rich and poor has widened rapidly.
Videos taken by passersby claiming to show the crime scene were removed from video-sharing platform Douyin and Twitter-like Weibo, with authorities trying to prevent citizens from sharing details of the attack.
A police cordon is placed in the aftermath of a stabbing at a kindergarten in Lianjiang Province, Guangdong Province, China in this still image obtained from video posted on social media released on July 10, 2023
“The victims include a teacher, two parents and three students,” a city spokesman said
A man and what appears to be his daughter ride a scooter near a victim of the attack
While guns are strictly controlled, China is grappling with a spate of mass stabbings.
Deadly attacks targeting students and schools have occurred nationwide in recent years.
The attacks have forced authorities to step up security and prompted calls for greater investigation into the root causes of such acts of violence.
Last August, three people were killed and six others injured in a knife attack at a kindergarten in southeastern China’s Jiangxi province.
In April 2021, two children were killed and 16 others injured when a man armed with a knife entered a kindergarten in southern China.
In June last year, 37 students and two adults were injured by a knife-wielding attacker at a primary school in southern China.
And in November 2019, a man scaled a kindergarten wall in southwestern Yunnan province and sprayed people with a corrosive liquid, injuring 51 of them, mostly students.
In the same year, eight schoolchildren died and two others were injured in a “school-related criminal case” in central Hubei province, in which a 40-year-old man was arrested.
And in April 2018, a 28-year-old man killed nine students and injured 12 others outside their school in northern Shaanxi province.
The attacker later said he acted out of revenge after being harassed by a student at the same school.