Student goes on stabbing spree in China after failing exam; eight dead, 17 injured

A 21-year-old student went on a stabbing spree in China’s Wuxi city on Saturday (Nov 16), killing at least eight people and injuring 17 others. News agency Reuters reported that the incident took place at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in Jiangsu province.

“Around 6:30 p.m. on November 16, 2024, a stabbing incident that resulted in casualties occurred at Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in Yixing city, causing 8 deaths and injuring another 17, The suspect was apprehended on the scene,” a police statement read.

The suspect is believed to be a recent graduate who was disappointed with “failing exam, not receiving a graduation certificate, and dissatisfaction with internship compensation,” the police said.

Chinese authorities have now launched an investigation into what is being described as a rare mass casualty in the communist country. The suspect was later detained and he has now confessed.

In Yixing, police said emergency services were fully mobilised to treat the wounded and provide follow-up care for those affected by the attack.

The incident comes just days after around 35 people were killed in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai after a car ploughed into pedestrians.

Earlier in October, police had arrested a 50-year-old man after he went on a stabbing spree and killed five people, including three children near an elementary school. In September, a knife attack happened at a supermarket in Shanghai.

(With inputs from agencies)