Toddlers stabbed to death in nursery attack

Two babies and a carer have been stabbed to death by a lone attacker who tricked his way into a nursery in western Belgium. About 18 children, all aged under three and some just babes in arms, were at the creche in the town of Dendermonde when, police say, the man knocked on the door. The assailant, who wore a bullet-proof vest, said he wanted to ask a question, but then leapt into one of the rooms to launch his attack before stabbing more victims in another room. A man with a white painted face and blackened eyes, who Belgian media said was a psychiatric patient, was seen cycling away from the Fabeltjesland creche - which in English means 'the land of fables' - and was arrested around two hours later. Ten other children, all aged under three, and two other women workers suffered multiple stab wounds and are being treated at local hospitals, authorities said. Three of the children are in a critical condition. Dendermonde's chief of police, Paul Puttemans, said the man in custody was aged between 20 and 25. "We do not yet know who he is. He is being questioned about the incident." He said the man was believed to be carrying several knives and possibly other weapons. "There was blood everywhere and of course there was panic," said Theo Janssens, a senior member of Dendermonde's department of social services. He was on the scene within five minutes. "It was horrible. You can't imagine it. The two who were killed were just babies. One was already dead when I got there and the other was in a very bad way. "One of the adult staff was also already dead." Surgeon Ignace Demeyer, who is hospital co-ordinator for emergencies in the Dendermonde region, said he hoped that the children caught up in the attack were young enough not to be scarred in later life by the memories. Asked how one man had been able to attack so many in just a few moments with a knife, Mr Demeyer replied: "The truth is that stabbing children is very easy, especially when they are very small, and some of these would have been sleeping." He went on: "For those who survived, this was horribly traumatic and they are already being put into post-traumatic stress programmes. Police are still trying to establish a motive for the attack. The building is in a small street of terraced houses in the close-knit community of St Gillis, a suburb of Dendermonde. Local bread shop owner Bie de Cock, whose shop is just around the corner from the creche, said: "Both of my children went to that creche. They are now 18 and 12 years old, but they have been on the phone to me from school asking if it is safe for them to walk home. "This is a terrible, terrible thing. Normally, the mums come in here with their little ones to buy a drink or a bun before going to the creche. I know a lot of them personally. It's such a quiet community, you just can't think of anything like this happening to people like us."

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ITN | January 23, 2009

Tags:. .dendermonde. .ignace. .creche. .blackened. .janssens