Six persons were killed in a kindergarten stabbing in China's Lianjiang province.

 

A kindergarten stabbing in Guangdong province, in southeast China, claimed the lives of six individuals, three of whom were children.

An individual with the last name Wu, 25, was reportedly detained by police in Lianjiang. According to AFP, which quoted a local official, the other casualties include two parents and a teacher. As well as that, one individual gets hurt. Although they have not specified a potential motivation, police have described this incident as an "intentional assault."

At the same moment parents were leaving off their kids for summer courses on Monday at 7:40 local time (23:40 Sunday GMT), the attack took place. At 8:00, the guy was taken into custody.

The neighbourhood has been closed off, a business owner who works next to the kindergarten informed the news media.

A little more than 1.87 million people live in Lianjiang.

Outrage and astonishment were triggered by the footage of the incident as it proliferated on Chinese social media.

The stabbings also followed an unsettlingly predictable pattern. Although China forbids the use of firearms, there have been a number of knife assaults there in recent years. On one occasion, the assailant also injured a class of 50 children with chemical spray.

Since 2010, the BBC has recorded at least 17 knife incidents in educational institutions such as colleges and universities. There have been ten of them between 2018 and 2023.

Three people were killed and six others were injured when a knife-wielding attacker invaded a kindergarten in the southern Jiangxi province in August of last year.

Two children lost their lives and 16 others were hurt in a mass stabbing that occurred in Beiliu City, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, in April 2021.

In a knife assault at a kindergarten in Chongqing, southwest China, in October 2018, 14 kids were hurt.

The culprits in the majority of these incidents are male and have shown animosity towards society. Similar trends have been observed in mass murders in other nations, including the US and Japan. However, analysts speculate that there may be some other factors at play in China's apparent rise in mass stabbings.

They surmise that one factor could be the Covid-19 outbreak, which resulted in perhaps of the world's longest and strictest lockdowns in Chinese cities. Although the consequences are not fully known yet, they may include sentiments of rage and hatred as well as the termination of relationships, investments, and jobs.

The high levels of stress and expectations placed on young males in Chinese culture are mentioned as other potential contributing factors. High rates of young unemployment and a growing rich-poor split are making these issues worse. According to an expert, some people who have a strong feeling of "social deprivation" may resort to violence as a way to express their displeasure with society.

Since 2010, Chinese authorities have increased security in and around schools. In order to safeguard the safety of instructors and pupils, the Ministry of Public Security had asked local authorities to "resolutely crack down" on criminal activity that year.

The education ministry also required emergency evacuation exercises in schools following the assault in April 2021.

Beijing is also withholding certain facts about Monday's event at the kindergarten due to concerns about copycat strikes.

All the information are taken from BBC Chinese