China: 51 children, 3 teachers injured after man sprays caustic soda

Fifty-one children and three teachers were injured after a man attacked them with a corrosive chemical at a kindergarten in southwest China on November 11. According to a news agency, the suspect is a 23-year-old identified as Kong who climbed into the school building in Kaiyuan city in Yunnan province in the afternoon and sprayed caustic soda in a room full of students and teachers. Even though the injuries are not life-threatening, reports say that the condition of two children is serious. The suspect was detained within 60 minutes of the attack, who allegedly sprayed the chemical to take revenge on the society.

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'Pessimistic mentality'

According to the local authorities, the suspect's parents were divorced during his childhood and the lack of family warmth resulted in a psychological distortion of his brain, creating a 'pessimistic mentality' to protest against the society. Caustic soda, also known as sodium hydroxide, is used in the manufacture of products like soap, paper, and various dyes. According to the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposing an individual to the gas can irritate or burn the eyes as well as skin. It can also provoke an allergic reaction, there is the possibility of hair loss too. 

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Not the first school attack

In China, this was not the first-of-a-kind attack in school. In October last year, a woman reportedly wielded a kitchen knife and slashed nearly 14 school children at a kindergarten while they were returning from morning exercises in the central city of Chongqing. In another incident in April last year, nine children were killed in a middle school in Shaanxi province of the country by a 28-year-old man who was bullied in his school. He was later executed in September 2018. In 2017, 11 students were wounded after a man entered the premises of kindergarten by climbing the wall and attacked children with a knife. 

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(With inputs from agencies)