Knife attacker kills three in Belgian nursery

A man carries his child as he leaves a building where families received assistance near the scene of a knife attack at a creche in Dendermonde January 23, 2009.

 

DENDERMONDE, Belgium (Reuters) – A man with a white painted face and blackened eyes stabbed to death two infants and a woman and injured 13 at a nursery in western Belgium on Friday before cycling away.

 

Eleven children and two female staff were being treated at local hospitals, authorities said. The suspected attacker was detained soon afterwards at a local shop.

 

The assailant arrived at the day care center in Dendermonde, 30 km (20 miles) west of Brussels, at around 10 a.m. (0900 GMT) saying he wanted to ask a question, but then ran into two rooms to attack his victims.

 

There were 18 children and six adults in the creche at the time of the attack.