Hostage-taker at school shot dead

Police shot dead a man wielding a knife who stormed into a primary school in Hubei province on Tuesday and held a teacher and dozens of students hostage.

Zhang Zeqing, 60, entered the school in Haokou, a township in Qianjiang, armed with a knife, a homemade bomb and bottles of gasoline, Qianjiang police said in a statement.

He held a teacher and 50 sixth-grade students hostage in a classroom at about 9:15 am. Police shot Zhang dead after he became agitated and poured gasoline on a hostage after rounds of negotiations. None of the hostages was injured.