Students were among at least six people injured after a teenager went on a stabbing spree at a university dormitory in Russia’s Bashkortostan Republic on Saturday.
A 15-year-old boy, armed with a knife, entered a dormitory at the State Medical University in Ufa on Saturday and began attacking students, according to reports. The teen reportedly shouted nationalist slogans and drew a Nazi symbol.
“The attacker resisted arrest, during which two police officers were stabbed. Furthermore, the suspect also inflicted bodily harm on himself,” Russia’s interior ministry spokesperson Major General Irina Volk told the news website RTVI. The suspect was admitted to a local children’s hospital in a serious condition.
Authorities in Ufa, about 1,200km east of Moscow, have launched a high-level probe into the incident. At least four people injured in the attack were rushed to the hospital and one is believed to be in a critical state. Indian students are among those injured.
“An unfortunate incident of attack has occurred in Ufa. Several persons including four Indian students have been injured,” the Indian embassy in Moscow said.
The embassy said it was in touch with the authorities and “the officials from the consulate in Kazan are on their way to Ufa to provide assistance to the injured students”.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos, saying “there was blood all around”, as Ren TV broadcast footage showing the injured being ferried to hospital in ambulance vans.
According to the local Baza channel, the suspect belonged to a banned neo-Nazi outfit. More than 30,000 Indian students were estimated to be studying in Russia across universities, according to the Economic Times.
