Man attacks primary school in Beijing, wounds 20 kids

A man has attacked students at an elementary school in China’s capital of Beijing, wounding 20 children, three of them severely, local government officials have announced.

A male suspect is already “under control” and the injured students have been admitted to hospital, said a statement by the Xicheng district government posted on its social media account on Tuesday, without elaborating on motives or the exact circumstance of the attack.

Local press reports, however, cited social media posts as reporting that the young victims had suffered knife wounds to the head.

The most seriously hurt children in the attack — which took place at 11:17 a.m. local time (2:17 GMT) — are reported to be in stable condition.

News outlets cited witnesses as saying that six police vehicles were parked outside a hospital near the elementary school where the attack occurred.

While violent crimes are rare in China, knife and axe attacks targeting children are not uncommon in the world’s most populous country.

Last April, a knife-wielding man in China’s northwestern province of Shaanxi stabbed nine students to death outside a middle school, and inflicted injuries on 10 others.

In January 2017, a man in southern China stabbed 12 children with a vegetable knife with a reported motive of getting revenge for a dispute with his neighbor as well as not having a desirable life. The convicted suspect was reportedly executed earlier this month.

Also in 2017, a man stabbed a woman to death and injured 12 other bystanders at a shopping mall in Beijing.