Police said 22 children and one adult have been injured in a knife attack outside a primary school in central China.

A police officer said the attack in the Henan province village of Chengping happened this morning as students were arriving for classes.

The officer said the attacker, 36-year-old local villager Min Yingjun, is now in police custody.

A county hospital administrator said the man first attacked an elderly woman, then students, before being subdued by security guards who have been posted across China following a spate of school attacks in recent years. He said two students have been transferred to better-equipped hospitals outside the county.

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