A woman armed with kitchen knife on Friday attacked children at a kindergarten in China’s southwestern city of Chongqing, injuring at least 14 of them before she was stopped by teachers and guards, in the latest such incident on children in the country.
Police in the Chongqing city said, the children were slashed by the 39-year-old woman as they were returning to class after their morning exercises at the Yudong New Century Kindergarten in the Banan district, police said.
The injured children were all sent to hospitals for treatment. There was no immediate word on their condition.
The woman, identified only by her surname Liu, has been arrested, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted a local state-run Chongqing Broadcasting Group as saying.
The motive behind the attack is unclear, though some reports on social media say the woman had a grievance against the government.
A mobile recording shared by the broadcaster showed the alleged suspect being dragged away by police, as well as an injured child on a hospital stretcher.
Videos circulating on Chinese social media showed small children bleeding from severe cuts to their faces at the entrance of the kindergarten as stunned adults looked on. A screenshot of a WeChat group said “a woman and her husband were arguing, and to take revenge against society she stabbed the children at the kindergarten with a knife”, the report said.
School security guards and staff managed to restrain the attacker. Video from the scene appeared to show angry onlookers attempting to hit and kick the woman after she was detained.