Dozens of children injured in knife attack in Chinese school

A knife attack at a southern Chinese elementary school injured 37 children and two adults Thursday, officials said.

Cangwu County officials said in a statement that all 39 victims were hospitalized, but none were in serious condition. Police have detained one suspect. County officials did not identify the attacker, but the state-run newspaper the Global Times reported that the attacker was a security guard, CNN reported.

State broadcaster CCTV, meanwhile, said the head of the school and another security guard were also injured in the attack. State media have said the alleged attacker, who is currently in custody, is surnamed Li, but have not identified any other information about him or a motive, according to The Associated Press.

The country, which heavily restricts private gun ownership, has seen several knife attacks targeting schools in recent years, including an incident in October 2018 in which a woman attacked at least 14 children in a Chongqing kindergarten. In April 2018,  a 28-year-old man killed nine students at a middle school in Shaanxi province.

A man also climbed the wall of a kindergarten in the southwestern city of Pingxiang in the province of Guangxi with a knife and attacked 11 children in 2017.