A man stabbed eight children to death and injured five others at a primary school in east China's Fujian Province Tuesday, local authorities said.

Police have arrested a man in connection with the attack. He was identified as Zheng Minsheng, a former community doctor in Nanping City, said Huang Zhongping, spokesman with the city's public security bureau.

Zheng, born in April 1968, was a native of Nanping and worked at the Mazhan community clinic before he resigned in June 2009, Huang said.

Zheng was said to have a history of mental health problems.

The attack happened at 7:20 a.m. at the entrance of Nanping Experimental Primary School, when crowds of students were arriving.

The suspect was subdued by a passersby and school security guards, said Wu Jiachong, the owner of a nearby store who called the police.

The school was closed after the attack and all students were taken home by their families.

The five injured children were being treated in hospital.

Liu Luyi, 12, was still in the intensive care unit of Nanping People's Hospital, while his father was waiting anxiously outside the ward Tuesday.

The boy's mother, Lu Yanping, said, "My mind went blank when my son's teacher called me at 8 a.m., saying he had been stabbed.

"Doctors said my son is still in a critical condition. I hope he recovers soon," she said.