Knife attacker kills six and injures 14 in Chinese city
- Police in Anqing say an unemployed 25-year-old has been detained over the attack, which they believe was carried out due to ‘anger’ and ‘family troubles’
- The incident was the third attack on members of the public carried out in China in recent weeks
Six people were killed and 14 wounded in a knife attack in eastern China on Saturday.
The authorities in Anqing, a city in Anhui province, said a 25-year-old unemployed man from Huaining county named Wu had been arrested over the attack.
“He killed out of anger, because of family troubles and pessimism,” the municipal government said in a statement.
As of noon on Sunday, six victims of the attack were dead and 14 others were being treated for injuries. One of the injured was in a critical condition while the other 13 were in a stable condition.
It was the third such attack in China in recent weeks.
Videos circulating on the internet show several pedestrians wounded and covered in blood on a walkway along Renmin Road in the city centre, as well as multiple bloodstains on the ground.
01:03
At least six killed, 14 injured in street knife attack in eastern China
A doctor was seen performing CPR on a woman with an abdominal injury.
The walkway along Renmin Road is located in the centre of the old town of Anqing, near a pedestrian-only zone and primary and secondary schools.
The suspect was taken away from the scene by four police officers. A photograph released by Xinan Evening News shows the suspect was wearing a grey top and dark trousers, with a white cloth strip tied around his head.
Seven wounded in personal ‘revenge’ attack in eastern China
Zoe Zhang, a young woman living in Anqing, said the area where the attack happened was always very busy.
“I often go to the bookstore there. Yesterday I happened to have to work so did not go. Now I’m scared to think about it,” she said.
On Saturday night, the local blood bank urgently called for donations due to a shortage of local supplies.
The Ministry of Public Security sent a working group to Anqing on Saturday night to guide the investigation. The provincial party boss and the governor urged local authorities to tighten social controls and maintain order following the attack.
The incident was the third indiscriminate attack in mainland China in the last two weeks.
Chinese online feud culminates in Vancouver courtroom stabbing
These back-to-back crimes have caused great unease among the Chinese public, with some blaming them on broader socio-economic problems.
An internet user named “Chanchan” posted on the social media site Weibo that “the disparity between the rich and the poor is too large … The lower class can’t earn more than a few meals for the rich in a lifetime of hard labour … in desperation the dark side of human nature will be infinitely magnified, but [the people who] hurt the innocent really should go to hell”.
