Two children and a woman have been stabbed to death by a knife-wielding man at a crèche in Dendermonde, Belgium. Officials have confirmed that the deaths occurred due to knife wounds inflicted by an unidentified man wearing white face paint with blackened eyes, who arrived by bicycle at the crèche in East Flanders.
BBC News has reported that Peter Cleymans of the Dendermonde Ambulance Centre told the Reuters news agency that a further “ten, 15, 20 are injured, I don’t know.” The injured have been taken to hospital in Ghent. 11 children and two other women were injured, three of the children critically, according to Reuters. The Associated Press reports local prosecutor Christian Du Four telling a news conference, “We have three people dead and 10 in various hospitals.”
The alleged attacker, said to be around 30, rang the doorbell of the crèche at 0900 UTC (1000 local), then ran upstairs when the door was opened. He fled the scene by bicycle and was arrested at 1030 UTC. He was reported as being injured as he was detained. State broadcaster VRT described the man as being local, whilst AP reports Leene Du Bois, a Flemish government official, as saying that he had no connection with the crèche.
The crèche had 18 children in its care, with six adults in attendance. Reuters reports that Belgian media believe the suspect to be a psychiatric patient.
