sha123
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At least six children have been hacked to death in north-western China in the latest in a series of violent attacks on schools, state media report.
Some 20 others were injured after the attack in Hanzhong city in Shaanxi province, Xinhua news agency reported.
The children were all thought to be under the age of six, and one teacher is also said to have been killed.
It is the second fatal school attack in recent weeks. Several other attacks have resulted in dozens of injuries.
In March, a man stabbed to death eight pupils at a school in Fujian province. He was executed soon afterwards.
In the space of a week in late April, three more attacks in different parts of China left dozens of children injured.
The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing says many parents now fear copycat attacks.
Pitchfork defence
Hanzhong city officials said that the man who carried out the killings had killed himself afterwards.
Earlier, Xinhua reported that seven children had died, but this was later corrected with the teacher's death.
Last month, the education ministry ordered all schools to upgrade their security facilities, teach students about safety and ensure that young children were escorted home.
Some local police authorities have distributed steel pitchforks and pepper spray to security guards in schools.
But correspondents say such measures are expensive and their effectiveness is unproven.
China traditionally has had a comparatively low rate of violent crime, but this is no longer the case.
Experts quoted in Western media have suggested that the school attacks are a form of revenge on society by individuals with no outlet for their anger.
Some Chinese commentators have alluded to the growing gap between rich and poor, and the rapid pace of economic development and social upheaval as possible factors leading to outbreaks of violence.
But reports in official media have generally played down any wider causes for the school attacks, portraying them as isolated incidents perpetrated by disturbed individuals.
BBC News - China children 'hacked to death' in new school attack
Some 20 others were injured after the attack in Hanzhong city in Shaanxi province, Xinhua news agency reported.
The children were all thought to be under the age of six, and one teacher is also said to have been killed.
It is the second fatal school attack in recent weeks. Several other attacks have resulted in dozens of injuries.
In March, a man stabbed to death eight pupils at a school in Fujian province. He was executed soon afterwards.
In the space of a week in late April, three more attacks in different parts of China left dozens of children injured.
The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing says many parents now fear copycat attacks.
Pitchfork defence
Hanzhong city officials said that the man who carried out the killings had killed himself afterwards.
Earlier, Xinhua reported that seven children had died, but this was later corrected with the teacher's death.
Last month, the education ministry ordered all schools to upgrade their security facilities, teach students about safety and ensure that young children were escorted home.
Some local police authorities have distributed steel pitchforks and pepper spray to security guards in schools.
But correspondents say such measures are expensive and their effectiveness is unproven.
China traditionally has had a comparatively low rate of violent crime, but this is no longer the case.
Experts quoted in Western media have suggested that the school attacks are a form of revenge on society by individuals with no outlet for their anger.
Some Chinese commentators have alluded to the growing gap between rich and poor, and the rapid pace of economic development and social upheaval as possible factors leading to outbreaks of violence.
But reports in official media have generally played down any wider causes for the school attacks, portraying them as isolated incidents perpetrated by disturbed individuals.
BBC News - China children 'hacked to death' in new school attack