The four American instructors were stabbed by a man at Beishan Park in the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin (Pictures: AP/Reuters)
Four American instructors teaching at a university in China were stabbed after reportedly bumping into a man who was ‘down on his luck’.
The instructors from Cornell College in Iowa were leaving a public park in the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin on Monday when they heard a scream.
‘I turned around to find a man brandishing a knife at me. I didn’t immediately realize what was happening. I thought my coworkers had been pushed, and he, for some reason was trying to push me,’ one of the instructors, David Zabner, told Iowa Public Radio.
‘And then I looked down at my shoulder and realized, “I’m bleeding. I’ve been stabbed.”‘
Photos from the stabbing were posted on Chinese social media sites but later taken down (Picture: Reuters)
A man identified only by the surname Cui walked past the instructors as they weremaking their way down mountainous Beishan Park, said China’s foreign ministry.
‘Police told us that he was unemployed and down on his luck, and that somebody in our group bumped into the man,’ said Zabner. ‘And he decided to respond in the way he responded.’
Zabner was sliced in the arm about six inches below his shoulder, and appeared in one photo lying on his side in pain. He said medical first responders arrived about 20 minutes later. The photo shows another instructor behind him bleeding from his back. In addition, a video showed a victim trying to call home.
The pictures and video were posted on Chinese social media sites but most have been taken down.
Beishan Park in in northeastern China’s Jilin province (Picture: AP)
Zabner and his three colleagues were taken to a local hospital and were still being treated there as of Tuesday morning.
Cui was arrested, cops said.
A fifth person who is Chinese was also stabbed, according to police.
‘Horrified that multiple Cornell College faculty members were brutally stabbed in China,’ wrote US Rep Ashley Hinson on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.
‘My team has been in communication with Cornell College & will do everything in our power to bring these Iowans home safely. Join me in praying for their health & safety.’
Cornell College in Mount Vernon has had a partnership with Beihua University in Jilin since 2018. Zabner said first taught computer science through the program in 2019 and returned to instruct this year, going sightseeing on his days off.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.