In China, a knife attack in a school leaves eight dead and seventeen injured

A knife attack at a school in eastern China left eight people dead and seventeen injured, authorities said on Saturday (November 16). « A 18 h 30 [11 h 30 à Paris]a stabbing attack took place at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology » in Jiangsu province and “lead eight dead and seventeen injured”said police in the city of Yixing, where the tragedy took place. She said the suspect had “was arrested at the scene”.

According to the first elements of the investigation, cited in the press release, the suspect is a 21-year-old man, student of the class of 2024. “Because he did not graduate after failing his exams and because he was unhappy with his remuneration during his internship, he returned to school to express his anger and commit these murders”added the Yixing police. The suspect “confessed everything”she said.

“The services are fully mobilized to provide care to the injured, manage the aftermath of the tragedy and complete the investigation into this matter”he concluded at the police.

Several fatal attacks

China prohibits its citizens from owning firearms. But stabbing attacks have increased in recent years. Overall, violence is on the rise in the world's second-largest economy, where the gap between poor and rich has widened over the years.

Several deadly attacks specifically targeting schools have taken place in the country, prompting authorities to increase security around educational establishments. In July 2023, a knife attack in a nursery school left six dead and one injured in Lianjiang, in the South, the suspect was arrested in the aftermath.

In August 2022, a knife attack on a nursery school in the province of Jiangxi (Southeast) left three dead and six injured. An individual with a knife attacked a nursery school in Beiliu, in the south of the country, in April 2021, killing two children and injuring sixteen people.