Kazakhstan: Axe-wielding masked teen wounds three in school

A Kazakh teenager wearing a sinister-looking plastic mask wounded three schoolmates with an axe on Monday at a school in the city of Petropavlovsk in northern Kazakhstan, a police spokesperson said.

Police have detained the student, whose name has not been disclosed. They said two students had been hospitalised and were in a stable condition. A third was released after treatment.

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The teenager "jumped into the hallway and started swinging his axe at students", local news website Petropavlovsk News cited an eyewitness as saying.

"He aimed at (one boy's) heart. The boy raised his arms to protect himself," it quoted the witness, a fellow student, as saying.

Such violent attacks are rare in the former Soviet republic's schools, although bullying and gang violence are known issues.