4 U.S. instructors teaching at Chinese university attacked in park

BEIJING (Reuters) -- Four American educators from a small Iowa university were injured in a stabbing attack in a public park in northeast China's Jilin province on Monday, according to Chinese and U.S. government officials.

China's foreign ministry on Tuesday said the incident was a random attack and that it would "not affect normal people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States".

Iowa Representative Adam Zabner told Reuters his brother was one of the victims from Cornell College in Iowa.

"My brother, David Zabner, was wounded in the arm during a stabbing attack while visiting a temple in Jilin City, China," he said.

"I spoke to David... He is recovering from his injuries and doing well. My family is incredibly grateful that David survived this attack."

The group had been visiting a temple in Beishan Park when they were attacked by a man with a knife, he added.

"The police have preliminarily judged that this was a random incident but an investigation is ongoing," China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters at a daily briefing on Tuesday.

"All the injured individuals were immediately taken to the hospital and were given appropriate critical care, no one's life is in danger," Lin said.

China's foreign ministry said it would continue taking effective measures to ensure the safety of foreigners in China.

A video of people lying on the ground in a park covered in blood was circulating on X on Monday, though no trace of the images could be found on Chinese social media.

Reuters was able to identify the location of the video based on Chinese characters written on a wall, the wall's structure and the layout of the path, but it was not able to confirm when the video was shot.

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