XUZHOU, China — Explosive materials and violent writings were found in the home of a 22-year-old man suspected of setting off an explosion outside a kindergarten in eastern China, the state news media reported on Friday, citing government officials.
China Central Television, the state broadcaster, said that the man, surnamed Xu, and seven other people died in the explosion, which took place shortly before the students were to be dismissed on Thursday at a kindergarten on the outskirts of Xuzhou, a sprawling city in Jiangsu Province.
The authorities said they had recovered homemade explosive materials in Mr. Xu’s apartment, along with writings about death and killing, CCTV reported. It also said that Mr. Xu, 22, had had an autonomic nervous system disorder that had caused him to take a leave of absence from school at one point. Such a disorder can lead to problems controlling involuntary actions such as breathing.
If shown to have been a deliberate act, the blast would be the latest in a series of grisly attacks at Chinese schools that have raised safety concerns among parents. In 2012, for example, a man wielding a meat cleaver wounded 23 children at a school in the central province of Henan.
XUZHOU, China — Explosive materials and violent writings were found in the home of a 22-year-old man suspected of setting off an explosion outside a kindergarten in eastern China, the state news media reported on Friday, citing government officials.
China Central Television, the state broadcaster, said that the man, surnamed Xu, and seven other people died in the explosion, which took place shortly before the students were to be dismissed on Thursday at a kindergarten on the outskirts of Xuzhou, a sprawling city in Jiangsu Province.
The authorities said they had recovered homemade explosive materials in Mr. Xu’s apartment, along with writings about death and killing, CCTV reported. It also said that Mr. Xu, 22, had had an autonomic nervous system disorder that had caused him to take a leave of absence from school at one point. Such a disorder can lead to problems controlling involuntary actions such as breathing.
If shown to have been a deliberate act, the blast would be the latest in a series of grisly attacks at Chinese schools that have raised safety concerns among parents. In 2012, for example, a man wielding a meat cleaver wounded 23 children at a school in the central province of Henan.
The Chinese Ministry of Education issued an order on Friday calling for stricter security controls on school campuses in light of the case.
Top government officials, including Premier Li Keqiang, have in the past promised to improve school safety. But mental health issues persist, especially in rural areas, where health care for the poor is often inadequate.
The authorities have said that no children or teachers from the kindergarten were killed in the explosion in Xuzhou on Thursday, which injured 65 people. Most of the victims appeared to be parents and grandparents, who were lining up outside the school gate to pick up students, according to interviews with relatives and hospital officials.
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