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Kindergarten scare returned to haunt China on Wednesday as a man wielding a huge knife went on a killing spree in a school in the country's east, leaving three children and a teacher dead.
In the latest incident in a wave of deadly school attacks, 26-year-old Fang Jiantang, a self-employed man, was detained within hours after he attacked the children in a school in Zibo City of Shandong Province.
Three children died on the spot, while three others and four teachers received grievous wounds, state run Xinhua news agency reported quoting an official statement.
One of the teachers died in hospital while the condition of three other children and another teacher was reported to be serious.
The police recovered a 60 centimetre long knife at the instance of Fang, who confessed to the killings, Xinhua said. The motive for the crime was not immediately known and authorities were investigating.
Police cars and ambulances rushed to the school after nearby residents had called the authorities.
Like a dozen other attacks earlier, the unidentified assailant, believed to be a disgruntled individual entered the school as parents were picking up their children in the evening. He apparently entered the school posing himself as a parent.
Reports in some of the local websites said parents were seen screaming outside the school looking at the extensive injuries caused to the children. The faces of some of the children so badly damaged that they could not be recognised.
After the macabre killings, authorities shut down all primary schools in the city for a month.
The killings are the latest in string of assaults on schools which have sent shockwaves across the world's most populous nation.
Five major attacks on primary schools have already taken place between March to May this year in which 22 people, including 15 school children, were killed and more than 100 injured.
The school killings came just a day after a drunken man driving a heavy duty shovel killed 11 people and injuring 30 others in northern Hebei province.
Two people have already been executed after being found guilty of such heinous killings by Chinese courts as authorities have stepped up police patrolling around all schools in the country.
Schools have also been told to hire more guards and school buses are running with armed guards.
Some of the attackers were found to have been suffering from mental disorders and increasing stress in everyday life is being blamed for such maladies.
During trial, one of the school killers, Xu Yuyuan who was executed had said that he had gone on a killing spree to vent his rage against society after he lost money in gambling.
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has said the government is initiating measures to address the growing social and economic disparities. The official media has also progressively cut down the coverage of the attacks following observations that these are copy cat attacks which were getting fuelled by publicity.