2LT International News

CHONGQING, China – A woman who allegedly stabbed fourteen children with a knife at a kindergarten in Chongqing, in southwest China, has been detained by Chinese authorities.

The ferocious attack took place around 9:30am on Friday at the Yudong New Century Kindergarten in the city’s Banan District just as kindergarten exercise classes scheduled to begin for the day. These are held outside the classroom, near the front gate at the entrance to the building, as the kindergarten does not have a play area. The kindergarten caters for 170 pupils and nineteen teachers and other staff. Chongqing is a city of thirty million people.

Video emerged on social media after the attack of bloodied children struggling to get to ambulances, and being put on stretchers.

The Chongquing Daily later reported that one child was in critical condition, six had been seriously wounded, and 7 had moderate injuries.

The woman, allegedly responsible for the attack, was restrained by security guards with the help of kindergarten teachers. She is aged 39, and has the surname of Liu. It is understood she was claiming to have complaints about the government, although police have said they have not yet established what the motivation for the attack was.

“The deputy mayor and the municipal public security bureau chief Deng Huilin quickly rushed to the scene to direct the investigation. He asked the health department to spare no effort to treat the injured children,” a local police officer said in a statement relayed by Sky News.

Chongqing City Banan District police have opened an investigation into the attack.

“Some people are saying she is mentally ill, and others are saying it’s about a private vendetta,” a local lawyer was quoted as saying by RFA. “I don’t know what the problem is. It seems anyone can be in danger at any time … public safety is a real issue.”

A local resident surnamed Peng said he believes that China may be materially rich, but that contemporary society is morally poor.

“This stuff happens a lot,” he said. “There are various factors including the economic downturn, with huge pressure just to survive.”

“The psychological stress some people feel has no effective outlet, so they vent their anger on the innocent, on civilians and vulnerable people,” he told RFA. “I have no words to describe it.”

“It happened when the children were entering the school gate … The attacker just ran at them with a knife. The teachers were dumbstruck,” Zhang Jing, who lives near the school told CNN.

Friday’s attack is the third such attack in 12 months.

In April, a 28-year old man was convicted of killing 9 students at a Shaanxi province middle school in a knifing attack, and last year eleven students at a kindergarten were injured after being attacked by a man with a knife.