A stabbing incident outside a school in Wuxi, a city in eastern China, has left at least eight people dead and 17 others injured, local authorities confirmed.

The attack occurred on Saturday evening at the Wuxi Yixing Arts and Crafts Vocational and Technical College, around 6:30 p.m. local time (10:30 GMT).

According to police, the assailant, a 21-year-old man who had graduated from the school earlier this year, was arrested at the scene.

According to the statement, the suspect carried out the attack after expressing frustration over his failure to obtain a diploma due to poor exam results and dissatisfaction with his internship pay.

Police reported that the man confessed to the stabbing “without hesitation.”

The police also stated that a full investigation has been launched into the incident and are currently working to manage the aftermath.

This stabbing follows another tragic incident in southern China earlier this week, where at least 35 people were killed when a man drove his car into a crowd outside a stadium in Zhuhai, reportedly in response to a personal grievance related to a divorce settlement.

The two attacks have raised concerns about a rising trend of public violence in China, with some commentators on social media suggesting that the incidents reflect a broader phenomenon of individuals “taking revenge on society” by lashing out at strangers over personal frustrations.