Eight school children in central China were stabbed to death in their sleeping area overnight, it was reported Friday. Four other students were hurt, two seriously, in the bloody act in Pingdingshan, Henan province, said a female employee of the school. A city official said that they believe there was only one perpetrator who stabbed the teenagers with a knife around midnight as they were asleep in a dormitory. The attacker escaped and is being hunted by police. The motive behind the attack is unclear. The Education Ministry in Beijing said the stabbings occurred at a high school, not a middle school as initially reported, and that the students were around 17 years of age. In the past months in China there has been a series of crimes against children at educational facilities, particularly in kindergartens. Schools are now employing private guards, including the school where Friday's murders occurred.
