China Hospital Stabbing: 23 Casualties Reported in Knife Attack

At least two people were killed in southwestern China on Tuesday in a knife attack at a local hospital, authorities said.

The incident at a facility in Zhenxiong county, part of the larger prefecture-level city of Zhaotong in Yunnan province, resulted in two deaths and a further 21 people being wounded, according to a police statement posted to the local government's official social media channels.

Zhenxiong police, which said the attack happened at 11:37 a.m. local time, described the suspect as a male but did not disclose his identity or speculate on any possible motive.

"At present, the victims are receiving treatment in hospital, and the case is being investigated," said a statement also carried by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

Social media footage, which Newsweek could not independently verify, showed uniformed officers detaining a man wearing dark pants and a white top, although it was not immediately clear whether he was armed. State media has reported that the man has been detained.

County authorities did not answer multiple calls nor immediately return a written request for comment before publication.

The incident was first reported by China's official news agency Xinhua, which called it a "vicious attack." Baixing Guanzhu, an online news portal run by public broadcaster Guizhou Radio and Television, identified the location of the attack as Zhenxiong People's Hospital.

The state-owned outlet, which previously said two people had died and 23 were wounded, later revised its casualty report to two deaths and 21 wounded, citing the police report.

China's largest social media website, Weibo, aired mobile phone footage that it said was filmed inside the hospital shortly after the attack, showing injured victims on the floor and at least one person being wheeled away on a gurney.

A witness told Sichuan's Red Star News that at least one doctor was among those wounded during the incident, but their condition was not immediately clear.

Knife attacks leading to mass casualties are rare in China but have happened in recent years.

Last July, a man killed six people, including three children, and injured a seventh person at a kindergarten in Guangdong province in southern China.

A month later, also in Yunnan, two people died and seven were injured when a knife-wielding man attacked them in a residential complex.

Neither case has concluded in court, with authorities often attributing such incidents to a history of mental illness or a psychological breakdown.

Update 5/7/24, 5:51 a.m. ET: This article was updated with the latest information.