A farmer with mental health problems killed six people, two of them children, with an axe as they made their way to a kindergarten in China yesterday, the local government and media reports said.

The incident is the latest in a series of violent assaults on children involving people with suspected psychiatric problems in China, which experts have blamed on rapid social change as the country’s economy booms.

The 30-year-old farmer carried out the deadly assault in Henan province’s Gongyi city, in central China, early yesterday morning, the city government said in a statement.

One child and three adults were killed on the spot, while the other child and one more adult died of their injuries in hospital, Gongyi local authorities said in a statement. The children – both girls – were aged one and four.

“According to locals, the suspect Wang Hongbin has a history of mental health illness,” the Gongyi city government said, adding that he had been detained by police.