Man Kills 2 Children, 4 Adults in China Axe Attack

A farmer with mental health problems killed six people, two of them children, with an axe as they made their way to a kindergarten in China Wednesday, the local government and media reports said.

The incident is the latest in a series of violent assaults on children involving people with suspected psychiatric problems in China, which experts have blamed on rapid social change as the country's economy booms.

The 30-year-old attacker carried out the deadly assault in Henan province's Gongyi city, in central China, early Wednesday morning, the city government said in a statement.

One child and three adults were killed on the spot, while the other child and one more adult died of their injuries in hospital, Gongyi local authorities said in a statement.

"According to locals, the suspect Wang Hongbin has a history of mental health illness," it said.

A report on local news website www.dahe.cn said the adult victims were all parents taking their children to a kindergarten not far away.

Chinese authorities have been forced to increase security around schools after a series of violent assaults involving children. In many cases, the attackers were suspected of having mental health issues.

At the end of August, eight pupils were hurt when a staff member at a day care center for migrant workers' children in Shanghai went on a stabbing spree.

Last year, 17 people -- 15 of them children -- were killed and more than 80 wounded in at least five major attacks at schools in China.

Two of the attackers were executed and two others committed suicide. The suspect in the fifth attack was sentenced to death in June 2010.