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BEIJING (AP) — A man in southeastern China slashed a first-grader to death and severely injured two others Friday in the country's latest violent attack on children.
The man slashed the three children with a knife while they were returning home from school for a noon break, said Han Li, a propaganda official for Yiyang county in the southeastern province of Jiangxi. The attack took place in Luojia village.
"They were almost home when it happened," Han said over the phone.
Police were searching for the man in an all-out effort, and the motive for the attack was not immediately clear, Han said.
China has seen a string of attacks on children in recent years by culprits often identified as being mentally ill or angry at society. In September, a man fatally stabbed four students as they were walking to their elementary school in the southern province of Guangxi. The man was later found having killed himself, media reports said.
Also in September, a 40-year-old man stabbed students and teachers with a fruit knife at an elementary school in the central province of Hubei, killing three children and injuring six other people before jumping to his death.
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