9 People, Including 5 Children, Dead After Stabbing Attack

Nine people, including five children, were killed after a man attacked a group at a home in Suriname, authorities said.

In a statement, police said the suspect — whose identity has not been released — used a sharp object to kill four adults and five children at a residence in Richelieu, a town in the Commewijne district of the South American country.

A sixth child and another adult were also seriously injured in the attack, which occurred late Saturday night, Dec. 27, and continued into the early hours of Sunday, Dec. 28.

Officials said both injured victims were transported by ambulance to the emergency room at the Academic Hospital Paramaribo in the capital, Paramaribo, where they were admitted for treatment.

Police added that when officers from the Eastern Region arrived at the scene, the suspect attempted to attack them. During the arrest, the man was shot in the legs and injured. Authorities said he has since been hospitalized and remains under monitoring.

“Further details regarding the true circumstances of this tragic attack will follow,” police said.

According to the Daily Mail, local media outlets citing neighbors said the man allegedly had mental health issues.

Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons addressed the killings in a Facebook statement, saying she was “shocked by the violent incident in Commewijne.”

“In a time when family and friends should hold and support each other, we are faced with the harsh reality that the world also knows another side,” she wrote in Dutch. “A father who takes the lives of his own children and at the same time kills his neighbors. Wishing all the bereaved much strength, power and comfort at this unimaginably difficult time.”