Chinese man arrested for attacking his four children with knife then slashing himself

A man in rural southeast China got drunk and injured his four children with a knife at their home then slashed himself, according to police and local media reports.

The man, surnamed Wang, from Xiachun village in Anxi county, Fujian province, was arrested on Wednesday, county police said. Wang was treated by doctors for a laceration that was not life-threatening, they said.

All four children were in a stable condition after the attack on Tuesday evening, Straits Metropolis Daily said on Thursday.

Two boys, aged six and nine, were treated for neck injuries that were 13 and 15cm long, a doctor from Mingxuan Hospital in Anxi was quoted as saying. The cuts did not sever arteries and the boys’ condition stabilised after first aid.

Man held after two children die in knife attack at primary school

The five arrived at the hospital on Wednesday morning. Wang’s two daughters, who had less serious injuries, were discharged, the doctor said.

One of the children told the doctor their father was a heavy drinker and physically abusive when drunk, the doctor said.

“Nobody knows what happened that night apart from those directly involved,” a relative was quoted as saying, since the extended family was at work in the fields when the incident took place.

The children’s mother was working in the city of Xiamen.

One of Wang’s neighbours told the Straits Metropolis Times that Wang was unemployed.