Knifeman kills at least 7 in China stabbing rampage

At least seven people have been killed by a knife-wielding attacker in north-eastern China, media reports say.

Another seven people were reported wounded in the mass stabbing, which took place in Kaiyuan, a small city in Liaoning province.

“It’s lucky that school is off today, otherwise there could have been more victims,” said an eyewitness, a woman with the surname Liu.

Police have arrested a suspect, the state-run Xinhua news agency reports, although a motive remains unclear.

Witnesses described seeing a man stabbing people seemingly at random.

Violent crime is relatively rare in China, but the country has seen a rise in knife attacks in recent years.

They have usually been carried out by people living with mental illness or seeking revenge against officials or individuals known to them.

The suspect in Kaiyuan began attacking people seemingly at random just after 8am local time, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reports.

Police said an officer was injured while confronting the suspect. No other details on casualties have been provided.

An eyewitness told the SCMP that the attack started outside a school and most victims appeared to be middle-aged or elderly women.