Police in central China were hunting for a lone knifeman on Friday who stabbed five people to death and wounded three others in the latest in a string of rampage attacks across the country.
Henan provincial police said Ding Jinhua killed three people in the village of Dazhuzhuang then drove to a nearby furniture market where he killed a shop owner and taxi driver before driving off in the cab.
A police notice said a reward was being offered for information leading to the capture of the 38-year-old furniture salesman.
Thursday’s killings follow a series of deadly attacks on members of the public by mentally ill people or those bearing grudges against their neighbours, society, or the government.
Last Saturday, a motorcycle taxi driver detonated a homemade bomb at Beijing’s main airport after eight years of frustration trying to seek redress for an attack by city guards that left him paralysed and in debt, according to his brother.
In the worst such incident, a man set fire to a crowded commuter bus last month, killing 47 people, following unsuccessful efforts to get a local police station to correct his age so he could be eligible for social security payments.