A vehicle of the Russian Emergencies Ministry is parked near a local school after reportedly several unidentified people wearing masks injured schoolchildren with knives in the city of Perm, Russia January 15, 2018. REUTERS/Maksim Kimerling
January 15, 2018
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian investigators opened a criminal case into a knife attack at a school in the city of Perm on Monday which left 15 people injured, three of whom the authorities said were in a serious condition in hospital.
Media reports initially said two masked men armed with knives had burst into the school and attacked pupils, but authorities in Perm, about 700 miles north-east of Moscow, said the attack grew out of a knife fight between two pupils.
Local security authorities said in a statement that other pupils and a female teacher had tried to break up the fight.
They said twelve people had been taken to a local children’s hospital and a further three, including the teacher and two pupils aged 15-16, were in a serious condition at a different hospital.
Investigators said they had detained the suspects. The school, where almost 700 children studied, had been evacuated, the authorities said.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Jack Stubbs)
