Eight pupils killed in knife attack

Eight children have been killed in a knife attack at a school in China
12 April 2012

A former doctor armed with a large knife has killed eight children and injured five others at an elementary school in eastern China.

The assailant was arrested after the early morning attack, Xinhua News Agency said.

He is a former community clinic doctor with a history of mental health problems, said a man surnamed Wu in the Nanping city government office, who would not give his full name.

Eight children from Nanping City Experimental Elementary School were killed, and five were being treated at a hospital, Mr Wu said. Six died at the scene.

The attacker, who is in his early forties, had resigned from his post at the community clinic, Mr Wu said, but he wasn't sure when.

The school, located in Fujian province, was closed and students were sent home.

China has witnessed a series of school attacks over the past several years, which are often blamed on personal grudges or people with psychiatric problems, leading to calls for improved security.

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