Dozens of people have died in mass attacks in China in recent months | WFAE90.7

BEIJING – Dozens of people have been killed in a series of mass attacks in China over the past three months. The latest incident was on Tuesday, when primary school students were injured when they were hit by a car while coming to class.

Attacks occur in two ways; either drivers mow down pedestrians or knife-wielding attackers stab multiple victims. Weapons are strictly restricted in China and armed attacks are rare.

According to police reports, the attackers appeared to be taking out their anger and frustration on a personal issue. The victims are often unknown to them.

Such attacks are not new in China and have targeted kindergartens and other schools in the past. The recent increase has attracted the attention of authorities and the public. Here’s a look at some of the latest events.

November 19: The vehicle hit the students at the primary school gate

A small white SUV crashed into students arriving for class at Yong’an Elementary School in Changde, an inland city in China’s Hunan province. The official Xinhua News Agency said several adults were also injured. Authorities stated that the injuries were not life-threatening.

Security guards and parents subdued the driver, Xinhua said. Authorities later made a brief statement saying that the 39-year-old driver was taken into custody. Few details about the incident have yet been confirmed.

November 16: 8 people died in a knife attack at a vocational school

8 people were killed and 17 people were injured in a knife attack on the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in the city of Yixing in eastern China, about 160 kilometers west of Shanghai.

Police detained a 21-year-old student. They said he failed his exams, couldn’t graduate, and wasn’t happy with his internship pay. In the police statement, it was stated that the attacker decided to vent his anger through attack.

November 11: Driver kills 35 people at sports complex

A man who authorities said was upset over his divorce settlement crashed his car into a crowd exercising at a sports complex in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, killing 35 people and injuring 43 others.

Police detained a 62-year-old man who tried to stab himself in his car. He later fell unconscious due to neck and other injuries. They said the man was unhappy with the division of financial assets in his divorce.

October 28: 5 people were injured in a knife attack near the primary school

Five people, including three children, were injured in a stabbing attack near a prominent primary school in Beijing. Police detained the 50-year-old suspect. No reason was given.

In early October, a 10-year-old Japanese student died after being stabbed near his school in Shenzhen, a southern city bordering Hong Kong. This followed a stabbing attack on a Japanese woman and her child at a bus stop leading to a Japanese school in Suzhou, near Shanghai, in June.

September 30: 3 people died in a knife attack in a supermarket

A 37-year-old man allegedly killed three people and injured 15 others with a knife at a supermarket in Shanghai. Police said the man had personal financial disputes and came to Shanghai to “vent his anger.”

The attack occurred on the eve of a week-long national holiday in a suburban area of ​​Shanghai, China’s financial centre.

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