Three children were killed today and at least 13 were injured when a man armed with an ax attacked an elementary school in southern China, according to Chinese state media.
The man, identified as Wu, attacked a group of children in a classroom at a school in Pingnan city, Guagsi autonomous region, Xinhua news agency reported. The attacker, who is said to be a mentally ill person, was arrested in a short period of time, AFP reported.
In the past two years, there have been several fatal attacks on children in kindergartens and schools in China, including five incidents in 2010 in which a total of 15 children and two adults lost their lives and more than 80 people were injured.
Due to such attacks, the authorities have increased security around schools and are trying to establish the causes of such crimes.
The level of violence in China has increased over the past decades, along with the booming economy and the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
Studies also show that the number of mentally ill people has increased, which some experts associate with stress due to the increasingly accelerated pace of life and the disappearance of socialist support systems.
The authorities, however, claim that murders, for which the death penalty is prescribed by law, are still much less common than in Western countries.
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