Brazil man kills four children with hatchet at daycare centre

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A man with a hatchet jumped over a wall and invaded a daycare centre Wednesday in Brazil, killing four children and wounding at least five others, authorities said.

The assailant turned himself in at a police station and did not appear to have any connection with the centre, which offers nursery services, preschool education and after-school activities.

The dead were between the ages of 5 and 7, authorities said.

Investigators were searching for a motive, a police detective told television reporters in Blumenau, a city in southern Brazil, near the Atlantic coast.

Images broadcast on networks showed weeping parents outside the private daycare center called Cantinho do Bom Pastor.

Amid rumors on social media of other potential attacks, Blumenau’s mayor, Mário Hildebrandt, said the city suspended classes and will declare a 30-day mourning period.

The mayor said five wounded children were take to hospitals.

One was in serious condition.

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