Seven dead, 20 hurt in latest China school attack
The attack -- which apparently ended with the assailant's suicide -- was the fifth violent assault on school children in less than two months, and comes despite a push to boost security in and around schools across the country.
The killings took place in the city of Hanzhong in Shaanxi province, a local official surnamed Wu, who was at the scene, told AFP by phone.
"These are only preliminary figures," she said of the toll, adding that local authorities would hold a press conference later in the day.
Xinhua news agency said six children and one teacher were killed in the attack that occurred at about 8:00 am (0000 GMT) as the school day was about to start. All the wounded had been taken to hospital.
"The murderer has killed himself," Xinhua quoted local official Wu Xiaoyan as saying.
Several similar attacks on young children late last month shocked the nation, prompting the government to beef up security at schools throughout China over fears of possible copycat assailants.
On April 30 in the eastern province of Shandong, a farmer attacked children with a hammer, injuring five, before fatally setting himself on fire.
The day before, a disgruntled jobless man injured 29 children and three adults with a knife used to slaughter pigs in an attack at a kindergarten in the eastern city of Taixing, in neighbouring Jiangsu province.
Earlier that same week, a 33-year-old teacher on sick leave due to mental problems injured 15 students and a teacher in a knife attack at a primary school in southern China's Guangdong province.
And in March, a former doctor enraged by a split with his girlfriend stabbed eight children to death and injured five others in Fujian province. He was executed last month.
Authorities across China have reportedly implemented measures to strengthen security at schools, increasing police patrols near school grounds, and boosting the monitoring of people known to be mentally ill.
Violent crime has increased in China as tight controls on society have been loosened in concert with the country's transition from a state-planned to a capitalist economy.
Studies also have cited a rise in mental disorders, some linked to stress as society becomes more fast-paced and old communist-era supports were scrapped.
A study last year estimated that 173 million adults in China have some type of mental disorder -- 91 percent of whom had never received professional help.
