Man with knife kills six people at kindergarten in China

A man armed with a knife has killed six people and wounded one other at a kindergarten in south-eastern China, police said.

A 25-year-old man was arrested following the attack at 7.40am (12.40am BST) in Lianjiang, a city in Guangdong province, a police statement said.

A news outlet, Dafeng News, cited an unidentified witness as saying the attacker’s child had been struck earlier by the car of one of the people who was killed at the school.

It said one of the people killed was a teacher at the kindergarten.

Dafeng News cited video posted online that it said showed a man carrying a knife walking past the kindergarten playground.

It said other video showed at least four people in a pool of blood outside the school.

Attacks on kindergartens in China are reported regularly, usually blamed on grudges or mental illness, despite increased security being ordered after some 20 children were killed in 2010.

In 2020, a school guard was accused of injuring 39 people with a knife.

China prohibits most gun ownership. Personal attacks usually are carried out with knives or homemade explosives.