Knifeman kills seven under-fives during nursery rampage in China

A mentally ill man wielding a cleaver hacked to death seven children and two adults at a kindergarten in northwest China today.

Eleven other children were wounded in the fifth assault on school pupils in China since March.

Wu Huanming, 48, began the attack at 8.20am, as the under-fives were arriving at the private Shengshui Temple kindergarten.

He killed administrator Wu Hongying and a pupil on the spot, then hacked at 18 others.

Six children and Wu Hongying’s mother later died in hospital. Wu Huanming went home after the attack on the outskirts of Hanzhong city and committed suicide.

One eyewitness described seeing ‘blood everywhere,’ in the school.

Another said he had seen the killer earlier and he seemed ‘normal.’ Local people said he and the school administrator may have been related and their argument centred on a disputed lease relating to the kindergarten.

Sociologists say the killings reflect a lack of support for the mentally ill and rising stress resulting from huge social inequalities in China’s fast-changing society.

The area is on the city’s rural outskirts in a relatively poor part of the country.

Official media reports of the massacre have been minimal, perhaps to stop any copycat murders taking place.

Chinese authorities have stepped up security at schools countrywide, with gates and security cameras installed and extra guards at entrances.

Some local police have distributed pitchforks and pepper spray to security guards In a statement the Hanzhong city government promised to ‘learn from the mistakes and ensure nothing happens like this again’.









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