Three killed in rampage at Belgian day-care center

A young man with a gruesomely painted black-and-white face went on a rampage Friday at a day-care center, stabbing two babies and a worker to death and seriously wounding 12 people.

Sobbing, frantic parents rushed to the scene and to nearby hospitals. Shocked rescue workers spoke of finding crying, bleeding toddlers in the center. The seriously injured -- 10 children and two adults -- were taken to six hospitals, where they underwent emergency surgery.

Prosecutor Christian Du Four said the 20-year-old attacker rode his bicycle up to the Fabeltjesland day-care center in Dendermonde, in East Flanders, about 20 miles northwest of Brussels, about 10 a.m., found it unlocked and went in.

“He started slashing at everyone he ran into . . . the day-care workers, the children,” Du Four said.

He said the man’s knife had a blade nearly 8 inches long. His face was painted white with black patches around the eyes.

One worker tried but failed to disarm the intruder and another was stabbed to death, Du Four said. After the attack, the man got back on his bicycle and left. A suspect was arrested in a nearby supermarket.