Child from Japanese school stabbed to death in China on sensitive 918th anniversary

A 10-year-old child is in hospital after being attacked by a man with a knife on his way to a Japanese elementary school in Shenzhen, southern China, on Wednesday morning.

The Japanese Embassy in Beijing issued a warning about the incident and urged Japanese citizens to be aware of their surroundings, especially the approach of “suspicious persons.”

A 44-year-old man surnamed Zhong was arrested at the scene, local police said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon. The man is accused of stabbing a minor in Shenzhen's Nanshan district shortly after 8 a.m.

The police statement did not reveal the child's nationality or gender, but it was revealed that the child had a Chinese surname. Japanese news agency Kyodo had previously reported that the victim was an elementary school student.

In their statement, police said the investigation into the case and medical treatment of the child's injuries were still ongoing.