Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Babies and adult killed in knife attack at Belgian nursery
Two children and a woman were stabbed to death at a nursery in Belgium this morning after a knifeman with a painted face went on the rampage.
At least 13 more people were injured in the attack at the crèche in Dendermonde, northwest of Brussels, before the man fled on a bicycle.
The suspect, aged between 25 and 30, with his face painted black and white is said to be a resident at a local psychiatric institution. He has since been arrested, police said.
The man had rung the doorbell of the nursery at 10am (9am GMT). When staff opened the door he said that he had a message for someone before he bolted upstairs to the baby room and began attacking indiscriminately.
“The guy just went crazy,” Theo Janssens, the deputy mayor for social matters, said at a press conference. All the adults were injured as they tried to put themselves between the attacker and the children, he said.
One witness said: "His face was painted white and his eyes black."
Three of the victims had suffered life-threatening wounds at the nursery in the district of Saint Gilles Lez Termonde.
One of the children and an adult died at the scene, the other baby died a few hours after the attack.
Ten children and three adults were injured “some of them seriously”, according to local prosecutor Christian Du Four. The attacker, described as large with ginger hair, was also wounded in the incident.
Peter Cleymans, director of Dendermonde Ambulance Centre, said: “At least ten are injured. Ten, 15, 20 are injured, I don’t know."
Employees at the crèche said that a member of staff was among the dead. The attacker was not known to staff at the nursery, an employee said.
About 18 children, aged 3 to 6, were there at the time.
“The victims are being cared for and those who were not injured have been brought to a centre were they are receiving counselling. They are in shock,” Piet Buys, the Mayor told the newspaper website Het Laatse Nieuws.
“We still don’t know who the attacker is.”
Two children and a woman were stabbed to death at a nursery in Belgium this morning after a knifeman with a painted face went on the rampage.
At least 13 more people were injured in the attack at the crèche in Dendermonde, northwest of Brussels, before the man fled on a bicycle.
The suspect, aged between 25 and 30, with his face painted black and white is said to be a resident at a local psychiatric institution. He has since been arrested, police said.
The man had rung the doorbell of the nursery at 10am (9am GMT). When staff opened the door he said that he had a message for someone before he bolted upstairs to the baby room and began attacking indiscriminately.
“The guy just went crazy,” Theo Janssens, the deputy mayor for social matters, said at a press conference. All the adults were injured as they tried to put themselves between the attacker and the children, he said.
One witness said: "His face was painted white and his eyes black."
Three of the victims had suffered life-threatening wounds at the nursery in the district of Saint Gilles Lez Termonde.
One of the children and an adult died at the scene, the other baby died a few hours after the attack.
Ten children and three adults were injured “some of them seriously”, according to local prosecutor Christian Du Four. The attacker, described as large with ginger hair, was also wounded in the incident.
Peter Cleymans, director of Dendermonde Ambulance Centre, said: “At least ten are injured. Ten, 15, 20 are injured, I don’t know."
Employees at the crèche said that a member of staff was among the dead. The attacker was not known to staff at the nursery, an employee said.
About 18 children, aged 3 to 6, were there at the time.
“The victims are being cared for and those who were not injured have been brought to a centre were they are receiving counselling. They are in shock,” Piet Buys, the Mayor told the newspaper website Het Laatse Nieuws.
“We still don’t know who the attacker is.”
