BEIJING — Three people were killed and 15 others injured in a knife attack at a supermarket in Shanghai on Monday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, extending a series of stabbing incidents across China this year.

The victims were immediately rushed to hospital for treatment, according to Xinhua on Tuesday, but three died.

The assailant, a 37-year-old man surnamed Lin, was detained by the police who received a report of the incident at 9:47 p.m. local time (1447 GMT), Xinhua said.

An investigation is underway.

Public stabbing incidents have risen over the years in China, with authorities often putting the blame on mental illness. Children at schools are a common target.

In September, a 10-year-old Japanese student was fatally stabbed by an attacker meters from his school in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

That incident along with a June knife attack on two Japanese nationals in Suzhou, a major city in eastern China, have stoked security concerns among members of the Japanese community in China.

Stabbing incidents are rare in Shanghai but not unprecedented.

In 2022, a man went on a stabbing spree at a major hospital in the Chinese financial hub, injuring 15 people.

The man, whom authorities said was “resentful of society” after an investment fell through, was sentenced to death a year later.
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