The motives of the assailant who injured 28 children at a
kindergarten in Suzhou, Jiangsu
Province, last Saturday remain unclear. Local police are
continuing their investigation of the case.
Yang Guozhu, 41, entered the Xiaojianqiao Kindergarten in the
city's Wuzhong District at 10:40 AM armed with a knife, some
gasoline and homemade explosives, police said. He slashed the
children, mostly in their heads, faces and necks, and was about to
set the gas and explosives alight when police subdued him.
The children, several of them seriously injured, were sent to
nearby hospitals. No fatalities were reported.
Witnesses say there were initially three assailants, but two
escaped before police arrived on the scene.
Yang has three brothers, one of whom is in prison. He and the
other two are awaiting trial, according to police. No information
on the charges pending against them was provided.
Wang Huiying, who lives near the kindergarten, said that the
three teachers present at the time of the attack were so terrified
that they could not move. None of them has received any kind of
safety training.
Some parents and witnesses said that more than 28 children were
injured. Some have now been discharged from the hospital.
A parent surnamed Hu worried that the attack might have a
lasting psychological impact on her child. "We feel better when the
children are still in hospital," she said.
Xiaojianqiao Kindergarten is a private daycare center for
children of migrant workers that has not yet been approved by the
Suzhou Education Bureau. More than 50 children aged 3 to 6 are
registered.
(China Daily September 14, 2004)