Beijing ? An attacker hacked seven children and one teacher to death today and wounded 20 other people in a rampage at a kindergarten in northwest China, the latest in a string of savage assaults at the country’s schools.

The slayings occurred despite a countrywide boost in security at schools, with gates and security cameras ordered installed and additional police and guards posted at entrances.

The attack happened at 8 a.m. local time at a kindergarten in Nanzheng county of Hanzhong city, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It did not give the ages of the victims or say who attacked them.

Liu Xiaoming, deputy director of the propaganda department of Hanzhong city, confirmed that seven children and one teacher were killed and that about 20 others had been wounded.

“The murderer killed himself afterward,” Liu told The Associated Press. He said he did not have any other information.