<p>The incident is the latest in a series of violent assaults on children involving people with suspected psychiatric problems in China, which experts have blamed on rapid social change as the country’s economy booms.<br /><br />The 30-year-old farmer carried out the deadly assault in Henan province’s Gongyi city, in central China, the city government said in a statement.<br /><br />One child and three adults were killed on the spot, while the other child and one more adult succumbed to their injuries in hospital, authorities added. The children — both girls — were aged one and four.<br /><br />“According to locals, the suspect Wang Hongbin has a history of mental health illness,” officials said, adding he was already detained by the police.<br /><br />One witness told the official Xinhua news agency he rushed out onto the street when he heard people crying for help.<br /><br />“We used mops to fend off the axe-wielding man and waited for the police to come,” Cao Jianli, a local civil servant, was quoted as saying.<br /><br />The report said the suspect’s medical records indicated he suffered from schizophrenia.<br />Chinese authorities have been forced to increase security around schools after a series of violent assaults involving children. In many cases, the attackers were suspected of having mental health issues.<br /><br />In the last week of August, eight pupils were hurt when a staff member at a day care centre for migrant workers’ children in Shanghai went on a stabbing spree.<br /><br />The female worker used a box cutter to slash children aged between three and four at the “Little Happiness Star” nursery in an eastern suburb of the metropolis, according to local news reports.</p>
<p>The incident is the latest in a series of violent assaults on children involving people with suspected psychiatric problems in China, which experts have blamed on rapid social change as the country’s economy booms.<br /><br />The 30-year-old farmer carried out the deadly assault in Henan province’s Gongyi city, in central China, the city government said in a statement.<br /><br />One child and three adults were killed on the spot, while the other child and one more adult succumbed to their injuries in hospital, authorities added. The children — both girls — were aged one and four.<br /><br />“According to locals, the suspect Wang Hongbin has a history of mental health illness,” officials said, adding he was already detained by the police.<br /><br />One witness told the official Xinhua news agency he rushed out onto the street when he heard people crying for help.<br /><br />“We used mops to fend off the axe-wielding man and waited for the police to come,” Cao Jianli, a local civil servant, was quoted as saying.<br /><br />The report said the suspect’s medical records indicated he suffered from schizophrenia.<br />Chinese authorities have been forced to increase security around schools after a series of violent assaults involving children. In many cases, the attackers were suspected of having mental health issues.<br /><br />In the last week of August, eight pupils were hurt when a staff member at a day care centre for migrant workers’ children in Shanghai went on a stabbing spree.<br /><br />The female worker used a box cutter to slash children aged between three and four at the “Little Happiness Star” nursery in an eastern suburb of the metropolis, according to local news reports.</p>
