DENDERMONDE (Belgium), Jan 23: A man armed with a knife and wearing face paint went on the rampage at a Belgian creche on Friday, killing two children and an adult, officials said.

About 10 children were wounded, some seriously, in the attack in the small town of Dendermonde near Brussels, prosecutor Christian Du Four said as anxious parents gathered to identify the victims and injured.

The man, who had his face painted black and white, rang the doorbell at the Country of Fables day-care centre at around 10am (0900 GMT). When staff opened the door he barged in and ran amok.

The suspect, aged about 30, escaped on a bicycle after the attack but was soon detained.

“The guy just went crazy,” Theo Janssens, the Dendermonde deputy mayor for social matters said. Three adults were injured as they tried to get between the attacker and the children, he said. “There was blood everywhere. It was unbelievable, real carnage.”

Mr Janssens, tears in his eyes, said: “He went straight for the babies and attacked them.”

One child and one adult died on the spot while a second child later died from the wounds.

Parents of the children were gathered in the town hall and, with psychologists in support, were identifying the victims using photographs.

Prosecutor Du Four told reporters that the suspect entered the building by saying that “he had a question he needed to ask somebody.”

“He quickly pulled out a knife and started using it on the children,” the prosecutor said.

“He then went up to another floor and started doing the same thing again,” he said.

Six women members of staff tried to put themselves between the attacker and the children. All were injured, some with knife wounds to the legs or shoulders.

The suspect, who quickly fled, was picked up by police a few kilometres away, officials said.

—AFP