11-year-old girl in stable condition after Miaoli stabbing spree

Miaoli, Oct. 3 (CNA) An 11-year-old girl stabbed by a man in Miaoli City in a knife attack on Thursday was in stable condition at a hospital's intensive care unit after undergoing treatment for collapsed lungs and internal bleeding, doctors said on Friday.

The girl, surnamed Ting (丁), was stabbed in her left chest and underwent surgery Thursday night, after which her breathing and blood pressure became normal, China Medical University Hospital said in a statement.

Two others were also injured in the incident, including another 11-year-old girl who sustained cuts, surnamed Hsu (徐), and a 50-year-old man stabbed in the back and abdomen, surnamed Lin (林).

In a Threads post, Lin's daughter said her father was a bystander who tried to protect the girls, and that he was admitted into intensive care at Da Chien General Hospital.

According to the Miaoli County Police Bureau, the incident occurred on Thursday at 3:40 p.m. in front of a convenience store near an elementary school.

The 48-year-old male suspect, surnamed Chiu (邱), was seen loitering nearby before he suddenly approached with knives and started attacking at random, eyewitnesses said.

Police said Chiu was arrested at his home in Miaoli at 4:35 p.m. after they tracked the scooter he used to flee the scene.

Chou Wen-sheng (周文生), head of Shangmiao Ward in Miaoli City, told CNA that the incident occurred across from his office.

He recalled that a teacher from the neighboring cram school rushed over carrying the seriously wounded girl Ting, urgently calling for help and crying out, "There has been a killing! He [Chiu] killed several people."

The girls were sixth-grade students from different classes at the same elementary school, and they were heading to the cram school when they were attacked.

Chiu had been in prison for eight years until March after being convicted of stabbing four people, all of whom survived, while under the influence of drugs, police said.

Police are investigating the motive in this latest attack and whether Chiu was under the influence of drugs.

While such stabbings are relatively rare in Taiwan, there have been several cases in recent years, including the 2014 Taipei metro attack, where Cheng Chieh (鄭捷) killed four people and injured 22 others, and the Taichung train attack in 2024, which left two injured.