A man stabbed four school students to death Friday in China's Guangxi region, state media reports.
The attack happened in the town of Pingshan in Lingshan county when the students were heading toward school, reports Xinhua news agency. Three children died on the spot and the fourth died in hospital, reports Agence France-Presse.
A search has been launched for a middle-aged man for the attack; Xinhua reported citing the public security bureau in Lingshan county in Guangxi.
According to Chinese state TV, a 56-year-old man Shi from Pingshan was riding a red motorised trishaw and is suspected to have killed the children. Local police noted the number plate of the trishaw and announced a reward of 20,000 yuan ($3,260) for information about the man's whereabouts.
The reason behind the attack is unclear.
This is the second such attack on school children in China within a month. A man stabbed three students to death because his daughter was denied admission to the school. The incident happened at the Dongfang Primary School in Shiyan and the assailant killed himself by jumping off a building.
Violent crimes have been on the rise in China and most of them are results of personal grudges. In most of the cases the perpetrators suffer from mental health problems. A man fatally stabbed eight students at a school in China's southeastern Fujian province in 2010. Police said that the attack was due to his breakup with a girlfriend. He was executed soon afterwards, reports BBC.
The attacks have raised concerns about security in schools. School guards in China are often not equipped or trained to tackle such attacks. Reuters reports.
