A man reportedly sprayed corrosive chemical inside a kindergarten in Kaiyuan city, China injuring 54 people including 51 children and 3 teachers on Monday afternoon. The person, identified as 23-year old surnamed Kong, entered the premises of Dongcheng kindergarten at 3:35 pm as per local time and sprayed sodium hydroxide on the children and teacher, Xinhua news agency reported.
The chemical can cause severe burns, tissue damage and can be fatal if concentrated. The incident left 54 injured, among whom two sustained severe burns, while the rest sustained medium or minor injuries. None of them sustained life-threatening injuries, Xinhua reported.
The suspect was caught an hour later. According to the police, Kong carried out the attack as 'an act of revenge on the society'. The attack is attributed to Kong's poor mental health. Giving the reason, the local authorities said that his parents had divorced during his childhood and the lack of family warmth led to psychological distortion. Also, his work and life were unsatisfactory as well. All this led to a pessimistic mentality and thoughts about retaliating against society, the authorities further added.
Attacks on school children isn't uncommon in China. In June, this year, a man attacked 3 boys and a mother, near a school in Shanghai. Two among the three children died in the incident. Similarly, in April, last year, a 28-year old man, attacked middle-school students with a knife, killing 9 of the students. In another incident that took place in October, last year, a woman attacker injured 14 children in a kindergarten in the Chinese city of Chongqing.
