Four children fatally stabbed in China

The man reportedly attacked the children early on Friday as they were walking to their primary school in the town of Pingshan in Lingshan County, local authorities told the Xinhua news agency. Three of the children were killed at the scene, while a fourth victim died later in hospital.

Police said they have launched a manhunt for a 56-year-old suspect, who was reportedly riding in a motorized trishaw at the time of the incident. They have offered a reward of 20,000 yuan (2,550 euros) for information leading to the man's capture.

Firearms are difficult to obtain in China, and Friday's attack is the latest of several knife attacks to have occurred in the country over the last decade. Guangxi saw another attack in September 2012, in which a man wielding an axe killed three children and injured 13 others.

Earlier this month, a man fatally stabbed three children during a rampage at a primary school in the east China province of Hubei. And in May, an assailant injured eight primary school students with a knife in another region of Hubei.

More than 80 people were injured, and 17 people - 15 of them schoolchildren - were killed in five knife attacks in a three month period in 2010.

A rise in such incidents has forced authorities to bolster security around schools in a country where many couples have just one child. Some cities, including Beijing, require ID and registration for the purchase of certain types of knives.

nm/sb (Reuters, AP, AFP)