Two people were killed and 23 injured in a knife attack at the Zhenxiong County People’s Hospital in Zhaotong, prompting discussions about public safety and mental health resources in China.
On May 7, 2024, a knife attack occurred at the Zhenxiong County People’s Hospital in Zhaotong city, Yunnan province, southwest China, leaving two people dead and 23 others injured. Chinese state media, Xinhua News Agency, reported the incident as a “vicious assault,” and a suspect has been taken into custody, though it has not been confirmed whether this individual was the attacker.
The attack has sparked significant attention and discussion across social media platforms, with various posts depicting the chaos and the presence of emergency services at the scene. This event is part of a broader trend of knife attacks in China, which have been recurring despite the country’s strict gun control laws. Public spaces and locations such as kindergartens have frequently been targeted.
The motives behind these attacks are often attributed to personal grievances or mental health issues, which are compounded by limited mental health resources and societal stigma around mental illness in China. This latest incident follows a background of related violent acts, including a similar knife attack at a kindergarten in Guangdong province in July of the previous year, which resulted in six fatalities.
The investigation into the Zhaotong hospital stabbing continues, with authorities looking into the motivations behind the assault as the community reels from the impact.
