Man kills 4 children in axe attack at Brazil daycare centre

Murdered children were between four and seven years old

The injured were taken to hospital, with one of them reportedly in serious condition. Reuters

A man in Brazil scaled the wall of a daycare centre on Wednesday morning and killed four children with a hatchet, injuring at least four others, local authorities reported.

The children killed — three boys and one girl — were between four and seven years old, according to emergency responders.

Jorginho Mello, Governor of Santa Catarina state, confirmed the killings, which occurred in the city of Blumenau.

The 25-year-old suspect was detained by police following the attack.

The injured were taken to hospital, with one of them in serious condition, news website GZH quoted police as saying.

The commander of the 10th Military Police Battalion of Blumenau, Marcio Alberto Filippi, told CNN that the children had been playing on the playground when the man jumped down from the wall and attacked them with the hatchet.

Images broadcast on television showed weeping parents outside the private daycare centre, Cantinho do Bom Pastor.

School attacks in Brazil are uncommon but have begun happening with greater frequency in recent years.

Last week, a pupil in Sao Paulo stabbed and killed a teacher and also wounded several others in Sao Paulo.

“There is no greater pain than that of a family that loses its children or grandchildren, even more so in an act of violence against innocent and defenceless children,” Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Twitter following the attack.

“My condolences and prayers to the families of the victims and the community of Blumenau in the face of the monstrosity that took place at the Bom Pastor daycare centre.”

Agencies contributed to this report