Three children killed in knife attack in China

BEIJING—

A 40-year-old man stabbed students and teachers with a fruit knife at an elementary school in central China on Monday, killing three children and injuring six other people before jumping to his death, officials said.

The attack on the first day after summer break injured five other children and one teacher at Dongfang primary school in Yunxi county in Hubei province, they said.

Two students were hospitalized with serious injuries, said Deng Yunshan, a government official in Chengguan, the township where the school is located.

The assailant jumped to his death from a fourth-floor window after the attack, Deng said.

Yunxi county’s propaganda office identified the man only by his family name, Chen, and said he was a parent.

An investigation into the incident is underway, Deng said. No further details were immediately available.

China has suffered a series of attacks on kindergartens and grade schools. The culprits often are identified as mentally ill or as being angry at society.