HOSPITAL RAMPAGE
At least two dead and 21 injured after knifeman storms hospital in ‘vicious assault’ in China
One witness told state media that one or more doctors were among the injured
AT LEAST two people have been killed and a further 21 wounded following a knife rampage at a hospital in southwest China.
The attack took place at 11:37am local time (3.37am GMT) at the Chengnan Hospital in Zhenxiong County in Yunnan province, local officials said.
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The nature of the attack remains unclear but a suspect has been arrested and is under investigation.
Authorities identified him as a male villager armed with a knife from Poji, a town in Zhenxiong county, the South China Morning Post report.
In CCTV images published by the state-run news site The Paper, a man in black appeared to be wielding a knife in each hand in the hospital lobby.
Another man stands in front of him and appears to be holding a stick or a pole to defend himself.
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One local resident told The Paper: "It happened around 11 in the morning… it's still a bit chaotic, they're still determining the numbers."
A witness who narrowly escaped the attack told Red Star News that one or more doctors were among the injured.
Earlier media reports said 23 people had been injured but a Zhenxiong police statement now confirms the total to be 21.
The death toll is expected to rise as a result of many people being wounded in the attack, however.
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So far little is known about the victims, but police said they were being treated in hospital.
Footage posted online shows panicked patients and hospital staff attending to victims of the stabbing spree.
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Many were bleeding heavily and had fallen to the ground.
Separate videos captured police officers arriving at the scene and apprehending a man outside the hospital.
Authorities have told residents and merchants in the neighbourhood to "lock their doors" and "avoid contact with unknown persons", according to Chinese news outlet Hongxing News.
Mass violent crime is rare in China, which strictly prohibits citizens from owning firearms, but there has been a spate of stabbings in recent years.
Last August in Yunnan, two people died and seven others were wounded after a man with a history of mental illness attacked people with a knife.
The month before, six people were killed and one wounded in a kindergarten stabbing in southern China's Guangdong province.
And in August 2022, three people were killed and six wounded in a knife attack at a kindergarten in southeast China's Jiangxi province.
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