SHANGHAI (AP) _ A staff member slashed children with a knife at a daycare center for migrant workers in eastern China on Monday, wounding eight children, one seriously.
The attack took place at noon at an informal daycare center in Shanghai's suburban Minhang district, home to many migrant workers.
The female attacker was taken into custody and police were investigating, said Zhuang Liqiang, an officer in the information services department of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau. He did not provide further details.
Of the eight children sent to the hospital for treatment, four suffered only light injuries and one was relatively seriously hurt, but none suffered life-threatening injuries, the official Xinhua News Agency and other local reports said.
The reports said the attacker had suffered a ``psychotic episode.''
Chinese schools and nurseries have increased security following a spate of gory rampages in schools and other public places in recent years that left dozens of people dead and injured.
Migrant workers often struggle to find decent childcare for their children, who are not usually qualified to attend city public schools and who often cannot afford the high fees charged by private facilities. With tens of millions of parents working far from their rural homes in big cities, families are often split, the children only loosely supervised or looked after by grandparents and other relatives.
That headache has been worsened by local moves to close down informal schools and nurseries set up in the cities to cater to migrant families, ostensibly due to safety concerns.
<한글 요약>
어린이집서 칼로 무차별 공격, 8명 아동 부상
중국 상하이에 위치한 어린이집에서 29일 아동 8명을 칼로 무차별 공격하는 사건이 일어나 피해 아동 중 한명이 중상에 빠졌다.
한 낮에 벌어진 이 사건은 이주노동자들이 응집된 지역의 어린이집에서 몇 년간 일한 여성이 커터기를 사용해서 3세에서 4세사이의 아동들을 찔렀으며 “아이나 어른 할 것 없이 모두들 ‘도와달라”고 소리쳤다”는 인근주민의 목격담을 중국 지역 신문이 전했다.
신상이 알려지지 않은 이 용의자는 정신병을 앓고 있는것으로 추정되며 현재 구금되어 경찰의 조사를 받고 있다.
