BRASILIA —At least four children have been killed by a man wielding a hatchet in a kindergarten in the city of Blumenau in southern Brazil, local officials say.

Another four children were injured by the 25-year-old man who entered the creche at around 09:00 local time (12:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

Hospital officials said those injured were all under the age of three. Police told local media that the attacker had surrendered and that he had been taken into police custody.

Firefighters said that around 40 children had been inside the creche at the time of the attack.

They added that the assailant had jumped over a wall in order to gain entrance to the building and had apparently targeted the victims at random.

Parents ran to the kindergarten as news of the incident spread. City officials have suspended classes in Blumenau until at least tomorrow.

The governor of Santa Catarina state — where Blumenau is located — has declared three days of mourning.

It is not the first time a kindergarten in the state has been the target of an attack. In 2021, an 18-year-old man killed two staff members and three toddlers in a creche in the municipality of Saudades.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva tweeted that “there is no greater pain than that of a family that loses its children or grandchildren, even more so when it’s through an act of violence against innocent children who can’t defend themselves”. — BBC