Dozens of people have died in mass attacks in China in recent months

Guards gathered in front of the Wuxi Institute of Vocational Arts and Technology in Yixing, eastern China’s Wuxi city, on Sunday, November 17, 2024, a day after the stabbing attack. | Photo Credit: AP

Dozens of people have been killed in a series of mass attacks in China over the past three months. The latest incident was on Tuesday, when primary school students were injured when they were hit by a car while coming to class.

Attacks occur in two ways; either drivers mowing down pedestrians or knife-wielding attackers stabbing multiple victims. Weapons are strictly restricted in China and armed attacks are rare.

According to police reports, the attackers appeared to be taking out their anger and frustration on a personal issue. The victims are often unknown to them.

Such attacks are not new in China and have targeted kindergartens and other schools in the past. The recent increase has attracted the attention of authorities and the public. Here’s a look at some of the latest events.

A small white SUV crashed into students arriving for class at Yong’an Elementary School in Changde, an inland city in China’s Hunan province. The official Xinhua News Agency said several adults were also injured. Authorities stated that the injuries were not life-threatening.

“Security guards and parents subdued the driver,” Xinhua reported. Authorities later made a brief statement saying that the 39-year-old driver was taken into custody. Few details about the incident have yet been confirmed.

Eight people were killed and 17 others were injured in a stabbing attack at the Wuxi Art Institute of Arts and Technology in the city of Yixing in eastern China, about 160 km (100 miles) west of Shanghai.

“The police detained a 21-year-old student. They said he failed his exams, couldn’t graduate, and wasn’t happy with his internship pay. He decided to vent his frustrations through assault, a police statement said.

A man who authorities said was upset over his divorce settlement crashed his car into a crowd exercising at a sports complex in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, killing 35 people and injuring 43 others.

Police detained a 62-year-old man who tried to stab himself in his car. He later fell unconscious due to neck and other injuries. They said the man was unhappy with the division of financial assets in his divorce.

Five people, including three children, were injured in a stabbing attack near a prominent primary school in Beijing. Police detained the 50-year-old suspect. No reason was given.

In early October, a 10-year-old Japanese student died after being stabbed near his school in Shenzhen, a southern city bordering Hong Kong. This followed a stabbing attack on a Japanese woman and her child at a bus stop leading to a Japanese school in Suzhou, near Shanghai, in June.

A 37-year-old man allegedly killed three people and injured 15 others with a knife at a supermarket in Shanghai. Police said the man had personal financial disputes and came to Shanghai to “vent his anger.”

The attack occurred on the eve of a week-long national holiday in a suburban area of ​​Shanghai, China’s financial centre.