Chinese man burns self to death

TAIXING: A farmer burned himself to death after injuring five children with a hammer at a kindergarten, Chinese media reported on Friday.

This is the third attack in three days at a Chinese school and the fifth in recent weeks, and a reminder of societal strains just as China is trying to show its best face to the world. Two children were pulled away from the man after he poured gasoline and set himself on fire at a kindergarten in Weifang, in coastal Shandong province, Xinhua News Agency said.

All five injured students were in stable condition, it added. On Thursday, a 46-year-old owner of a copy store stabbed 29 children, two teachers and a security guard at a kindergarten in Taixing, Jiangsu Province, a few hours upriver from Shanghai. Nearby shopkeepers overwhelmed him in the schoolyard by hitting him with a fire extinguisher, they told Reuters.

“When we went in all the children were frozen, they didn’t react at all. Some were standing, others lying down or sitting on the floor,” said clothing shop owner Shan Aijun. “They didn’t react at all. Their necks and heads were covered in wounds.”