Mass stabbing at Chinese college leaves multiple people dead and more wounded

Police say a man took revenge for failing his exams by attacking students at a vocational college in eastern China.

A former student has allegedly gone on a stabbing rampage at a college in eastern China, killing eight people and leaving 17 wounded.

Police say the 21-year-old man was recently enrolled at the Wuxi Vocational College of Arts and Technology in Yixing, and may have been motivated by “failing an exam and not receiving his graduation certificate”.

The Yixing Public Security Bureau said the man had confessed to the horror crime in Wuxi, located about 120km inland from Shanghai.

“According to preliminary investigations, the suspect, surname Xu – male, 21 years old, a 2024 graduate of the college – attacked others after failing an exam and not receiving his graduation certificate, as well as being dissatisfied with his internship compensation,” it said in a statement.

Aerial view of Wuxi Architecture Landscape Skyline, China. Picture: iStock

Yixing police said the man was supposed to graduate from the college this year before failing his tests.

“He returned to the school to express his anger and commit these murders,” police alleged.

The attack unfolded about 6.30pm on Saturday night, local time, with the man arrested at the scene.

Images and footage shared online purporting to be from the college appear to show wounded students lying on the ground with blood visible on their clothes.

The school has about 12,000 students from around the world, according to its website.

It offers courses in art, design, ceramics, and fashion, among others. In Yixing, police said emergency services were fully mobilised to treat the wounded, and provide follow-up care for those affected by the attack.

It is the second mass attack in China within a week, after a man drove his car into people at a sport centre in Zhuhai – killing 35 people and injuring 43 others.

In October, in Shanghai, a man killed three people and wounded 15 others in a knife attack at a supermarket.

That came after a Japanese schoolboy was fatally stabbed in the southern city of Shenzhen, bordering Hong Kong, in September.

Violent knife crime is not uncommon in China, where firearms are strictly controlled, but attacks with such a high death toll are relatively rare.

– with AFP.