Photo:IC

A 66-year-old man in Nanyang, Central China's Henan Province, on Tuesday assaulted passersby near a primary school with a stick, injuring 12 students and two others, local police announced.

The suspect, surnamed Wu, is a retiree and lives alone, police said. 

Wu was brought under control by other passersby and the police at the scene. A further investigation is underway.

The injured were sent to hospital and are not in danger. 

The case once again raised concerns over security around schools. In late April, a knife-wielding man, who was later revealed to be schizophrenic, broke into a kindergarten in Beiliu of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous, killing two and injuring 16.

Following the incident, China's Ministry of Education urged schools across the country to strengthen campus security to prevent offenders from entering, and to ensure that police were at the school gates during key periods to prevent extreme incidents.