Knife-wielding woman injures 14 children at China kindergarten
Beijing, Oct 26 : A woman armed with kitchen knife on Friday attacked children at a kindergarten in China's southwestern city of Chongqing, injuring at least 14 of them before she was stopped by teachers and guards, in the latest such incident on children in the country.
Police in the Chongqing city said, the children were slashed by the 39-year-old woman about 9:30 a.m. (local time) as they were returning to class after their morning exercises at the Yudong New Century Kindergarten in the Banan district, police said.
The injured children were all sent to hospitals for treatment. There was no immediate word on their condition.
The woman, identified only by her surname Liu, has been arrested, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted a local state-run Chongqing Broadcasting Group as saying.
The motive behind the attack is unclear, though some reports on social media say the woman had a grievance against the government.
A mobile recording shared by the broadcaster showed the alleged suspect being dragged away by police, as well as an injured child on a hospital stretcher.
Videos circulating on Chinese social media showed small children bleeding from severe cuts to their faces at the entrance of the kindergarten as stunned adults looked on.
A screenshot of a WeChat group said "a woman and her husband were arguing, and to take revenge against society she stabbed the children at the kindergarten with a knife", the report said.
A video from a hospital in the Chongqing showed adults wailing in grief as children covered in blood are rushed from ambulances into the building. In another video, a child with his head in bandages is rushed past on a hospital bed, as crowds look on.
School security guards and staff managed to restrain the attacker. Video from the scene appeared to show angry onlookers attempting to hit and kick the woman after she was detained.
Large crowds gathered at the scene following the incident, and that the attack had shocked residents of the city, a metropolis of some 30 million people, the report said.
Violent crime is relatively rare in China, but it has faced a string of unrelated knife attacks in school and kindergartens in recent years.
They have usually been carried out by people seeking revenge against officials or individuals, or who are suffering from mental health problems.
On June, a 29-year-old man fatally stabbed two children outside a primary school in Shanghai, while nine schoolchildren were stabbed to death in a county in Shaanxi province in April, the report said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Zubeen Garg's drowning in Singapore highlights vessel operators' responsibility: legal experts
Singapore (PTI): The drowning of Indian singer-composer Zubeen Garg has brought the spotlight on rules and regulations that concern responsibilities of vessel operators when dealing with intoxicated passengers, according to a media report that cited legal experts.
A cultural icon in India’s northeastern region, 52-year-old Garg travelled to Singapore in September 2025 to perform at a live event. A day before his performance, he went on a yacht trip with a group of people. He drowned while swimming in the sea near Lazarus Island, which is a popular diving spot.
His death shook his home state Assam, where millions came out on the streets mourning. Later, police cases were registered against the organiser of the event, his manager and some others.
Nico Lee, managing director of the Triangle Legal law firm, told The Straits Times that Singapore has Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (Port) Regulations under which there are provisions to debar drunk passengers.
The owner, agent or captain of the vessel must not allow persons under the influence of alcohol or drugs onboard if they are intoxicated to a point where they endanger safety of the vessel, its crew or any person in it.
“In terms of civil liability, it could be argued that a yacht captain is negligent, as he owes a prima facie duty of care to guests on board under general negligence principles,” Lee was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
The singer and his entourage of about 15 individuals were partying on a chartered vessel, which they had boarded at Marina at Keppel Bay.
A death certificate issued by the Singapore General Hospital listed his cause of death as drowning.
An autopsy report suggested that Garg had 333 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood in his system, which was four times the legal limit for driving in Singapore and is likely to have impacted his coordination.
Citing Garg’s case, Lee said the circumstances were serious, as the controller of the vessel knew that the guest was intoxicated. Also, he may not have understood or processed a safety briefing for all passengers.
“That combination makes reliance on an ordinary briefing inadequate. If intoxication reaches a level that endangers the safety of the vessel or persons on board, the person in charge should not permit boarding at all,” he said.
According to Lee, the vessel’s operators could also have assigned a crew member to directly supervise him or ensure that he received a one-to-one explanation when he was capable of understanding.
Part of the responsibility could be attributed to the guest if he chose to enter the water and ignore instructions or behave dangerously despite the yacht owner or charterer’s best efforts, Lee said.
Vanessa Sandhu from Clifford Law LLP told The Straits Times that a key question is whether the yacht captain or operator owed a “duty of care” to the passenger and, if so, whether a breach of that duty caused the death.
“A yacht captain and operator generally owe passengers a duty to take reasonable care for their safety while on board, including swimming or water activities. This may include providing safety equipment and issuing appropriate safety instructions,” the daily quoted Sandhu as saying.
“However, the standard of care is an objective one, based on what a reasonable captain or operator would have done in the circumstances. It is not an absolute obligation to prevent all harm,” she said.
During the coroner’s inquiry, the operators of the vessel had said that no one had forced the singer to consume alcohol or enter the water, and that the entire entourage was informed on the yacht about the necessity of wearing life jackets before going for a swim.
A coroner’s inquiry on March 25 ruled Garg’s death as accidental drowning. On April 1, the police said that investigations into the singer's death had concluded, with no evidence of foul play.
However, in Assam, where seven persons were arrested in connection with Garg’s case, and some of them charged with murder, the matter is being heard in the court. All the suspects have denied any wrongdoing.
