BFF-21 15 killed in New Year knife rampage, arson attack in China

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CHINA-CRIME-ARSON-HOMICIDE

15 killed in New Year knife rampage, arson attack in China

BEIJING, Feb 8, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Fifteen people were killed in China on the
night of the Lunar New Year in two family tragedies, after one man started a
fire and another went on a knife rampage.

As people celebrated to welcome in the Year of the Pig Monday night, a man
surnamed Lu set fire to the home of his brother in the northern province of
Shaanxi, killing seven, according to police in the town of Baoji.

The brother, his wife, their fathers and their three children died in the
blaze, police said on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.

A few hours after the incident police arrested the suspect, who had just
tried to kill himself.

During the same night, a man surnamed Guo, who suspected his wife of
adultery, stabbed eight people to death and injured seven in a village in the
northwest province of Gansu, according to police in the commune of Baiyin.

The man, aged 49, has been arrested. The identities of the victims have
not been released.

Knife attacks are common in China, where the carrying of firearms is
strictly regulated.

Violent crime has been on the rise as the economy has boomed in recent
decades and the gap between rich and poor has widened rapidly.

Studies have also described a rise in the prevalence of mental disorders,
some of them linked to stress as the pace of life becomes faster and support
systems wither.

BSS/AFP/SSS/1743 hrs