A man who invaded a daycare centre with a hatchet has killed four children and injured at least three others in southern Brazil, authorities said.
Santa Catarina state's Governor Jorginho Mello confirmed the killings on Wednesday in the city of Blumenau on his Twitter account, and wrote that the killer has been arrested.
The state's firefighters corps confirmed the man attacked with a hatchet and that three children were taken to the hospital.
Images broadcast on television showed weeping parents outside the private daycare centre, named Cantinho do Bom Pastor.
Neither the state’s military police nor its security secretariat immediately responded to media requests for more information.
Rising school attacks
School attacks in Brazil had been uncommon, but have begun happening with greater frequency in recent years.
Last week, a student in Sao Paulo stabbed a teacher, killing her, and also wounded several others in Sao Paulo.
“May God comfort the hearts of all families in this moment of deep pain,” Governor Mello wrote on Twitter.
Blumenau, a city of 366,000 people, is famous for its annual Oktoberfest festival.
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