TAIXING – A farmer burned himself to death after injuring five children with a hammer at a kindergarten, Chinese media reported yesterday, in a reminder of societal strains just as China is trying to show its best face to the world.
Two children were pulled away from the man after he poured gasoline and set himself on fire at a kindergarten in Weifang, in coastal Shandong province, Xinhua News Agency said. All five injured students were in a stable condition, it added.
The third attack in three days at a Chinese school, and the fifth in recent weeks, comes as the Chinese government is tightening security before the public opening of the World Expo in Shanghai, China’s glitzy financial hub, on May 1st.
On Thursday, a 46-year-old owner of a store stabbed 29 children, two teachers and a security guard at a kindergarten in Taixing, Jiangsu Province, a few hours upriver from Shanghai.
Nearby shopkeepers overwhelmed him in the school yard by hitting him with a fire extinguisher, they said.
“When we went in all the children were frozen, they didn’t react at all. Some were standing, others lying down or sitting on the floor,” said clothing shop owner Shan Aijun. “They didn’t react at all. Their necks and heads were covered in wounds.”
The ministry of education issued an urgent instruction, requiring schools and kindergartens all around the country to “prevent strangers from entering”.
Some cities also took measures to strengthen safety in schools, local media reported. The number of school attacks has led to fear of copycat assaults and prompted calls for more measures to protect students in a country where many couples only have one child.
In Taixing, the crowd – gathered in a busy street jammed with motorcycles – muttered angrily about local corruption and the length of time it took the police to get to the school.
The attacker’s motivation was “to take revenge on society”, Xinhua reported. He had been fired from a series of jobs, for fighting or false claims, and had recently been cheated by the co-owner of one of his shops, Xinhua said.
“He appeared very normal, not very fierce, really quite normal, but he had the knife in his hand. He said ‘Whoever comes near, I’ll stab you to death’,” said restaurant owner Hu Xudong.
On Wednesday, a former doctor was executed for killing eight school children in Fujian province in March. – (Reuters)