China: 2 boys beaten to death by school employee

GlobalPost

Two boys are dead after they were beaten by a primary school employee in Southern China.

The boys, who attended a private school in the city of Yulin, were beaten in their dormitory by a male member of staff, who allegedly began hitting them around 5 a.m. local time, causing critical injuries. They later died after being rushed to the hospital.

More from GlobalPost: Knife attack at Chinese school injures 22 children

Yulin police have detained the school employee — identified only by his last name, Liu — and are investigating the case. The boys were in the fifth grade, which is for children between the ages of 10 and 12.

The incident is one in a string of attacks at Chinese primary schools in recent years. In December, 22 children were wounded by a man with a knife at a school in Henan province.

Three children were also killed and a dozen other injured in September of last year in an axe attack at a primary school in Pingnan county.

A series of knife attacks in schools were also reported in 2010.

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