A teenager has been arrested in connection with an arson attack
on a kindergarten in central China's Henan Province on Monday that killed three
children.
13?other children and one teacher were injured in the
incident, which took place in the village of Shiguan, Gongyi city,
at about 9 AM on Monday.
Police arrested Bai Ningyang, a 19-year-old local unemployed
man, yesterday, sources with local police told China News Service's
website.
He was found in a cave in the nearby mountains following a
search involving 800 police officers.
Police said Bai stormed into a classroom on the second floor of
the kindergarten, locked the doors, emptied two bottles of petrol
in the room and set the place on fire. 21 children and a teacher
were in the classroom at the time.
Bai reportedly ordered one child to leave the room before he set
it ablaze because he knew the child's parents, police said.
Two children, both aged five, died at the scene, while a third
died later in hospital.
Local residents claimed that Bai's motive was revenge for having
been rejected by one of the kindergarten's teachers. She was one of
the injured.
These claims could not be verified by police yesterday.
The injured were taken to local hospitals, but some were later
transferred to the No 1 People's Hospital in the province's
capital, Zhengzhou, because of the severity of their burns.
A doctor at the capital hospital, surnamed Sun, said some
victims were still in critical condition.
Police had offered a 20,000 yuan (US$2,500) reward for
information leading to the capture of the suspect and had issued a
televised appeal.
A local education official told China Daily yesterday
that the kindergarten was suspected of being run illegally.
Previous reports have said the kindergarten shares the same
courtyard with a factory and the arsonist was able to walk freely
through the main gate, which is often left open for the convenience
of factory workers.
(China Daily May 10, 2006)