FW:5 children hurt in fresh atta…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8653230.stm

Five children hurt in fresh attackon school in China

Five young children have been hurt at a school innorth-eastern China after a man attacked them with a hammer beforekilling himself.

It was the third such incident in China in as many days.

The man, said to be a local farmer, grabbed two children beforesetting himself on fire at the pre-school in Shandong province'sWeifang city.

The children were pulled to safety, and all five - plus aninjured teacher - were said to be stable in hospital.

China is reeling from a spate of apparent copy-cat attacks inschools.

On Thursday, 28 children - most of them aged around four - andthree adults were attacked by an unemployed man wielding a knife ata nursery school in Jiangsu province, eastern China. Five of thechildren were taken to hospital in a critical condition.

And a day earlier, some 15 pupils and a teacher were wounded bya former teacher - who was on sick leave - at their primary schoolin Guangdong province.

Earlier on Wednesday, a doctor convicted of stabbing eightchildren to death in Fujian province in March was executed.

Increased security

Friday's attacker was a local farmer identified as Wang Yonglai,Xinhua news agency reports.

CHINA SCHOOL ATTACKS

30 April 2010 Five children hurt in hammer attack inWeifang, Shandong

29 April 2010 - three adults and 28 children injured inTaixing, Jiangsu

28 April 2010- at least 15 children and one teacherinjured in Leizhou, Guangdong

24 March 2010- eight children killed in Nanping,Fujian

November 2004 - eight boys stabbed to death in a schooldormitory in Ruzhou, Henan

September 2004 - 28 children knifed in nursery inSuzhou and 24 children at a school in Shandong

August 2004 - pre-school doorman kills one child andinjures 14 in Beijing

'Socialrevenge' attack theory

He used a motorcycle to break down the gates in to Shangzhuangprimary school, striking a teacher who tried to stop him and thenturning the hammer on the children.

He grabbed two of the children before dousing himself in petroland setting himself alight. Teachers seized the two children fromhim in time.

The motive of the attack is not yet known.

The BBC's Chris Hogg in Shanghai says the attacks are unsettlingin a country where such violent attacks are rare.

Since a spate of attacks in 2004, many schools in China haveemployed professional guards but the latest incidents have led topublic calls for increased security in schools.

The education ministry ordered all schools to upgrade theirsecurity facilities earlier this month, as well as teach studentsabout safety and ensure young children are escorted home, statemedia has reported.

But such measures are expensive, says our correspondent, and inreality there is little that can be done to prevent such acts ofviolence.

The incidents have also sparked a debate about the motives ofthe killers, with some suggesting that rapid social change andgrowing unemployment has led to an increase in psychiatricillnesses.

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SEE ALSO

Childreninjured in China attack
29 Apr 10 | Asia-Pacific

School killerexecuted in China
28 Apr 10 | Asia-Pacific

China jailsfour over stabbings
17 Sep 09 | Asia-Pacific

Two die inChina school stabbing
17 May 07 | Asia-Pacific

Man held overChina school deaths
26 Nov 04 | Asia-Pacific

China schoolattacker executed
24 Nov 04 | Asia-Pacific

China warningto syringe stabbers
06 Sep 09 | Asia-Pacific

Eight boyskilled at China school
26 Nov 04 | Asia-Pacific

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