Knife Attack Near Suriname’s Capital Paramaribo Kills At Least 9 People

Authorities said the victims included the attacker’s four children and neighbors who came to help. The neighbor’s child was also killed. Local media reported that the victims were found in more than one house.

The attack took place in Richelieu in the Commewijne district, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of Paramaribo.

The male suspect tried to attack police officers who arrived at the scene and was injured during his arrest, the Suriname Police Service said in a statement on Sunday. He is currently recovering in a hospital.

A sixth child and another adult were also seriously injured in the attack and were treated at a hospital in Paramaribo, police said.

Suriname’s President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons reacted to the news on her Facebook page, saying that the attacker took the lives of her children and neighbors.

“I wish much strength, resilience and comfort to all the bereaved during this unimaginably difficult time,” Geerlings-Simons wrote in Dutch, the country’s official language.

Suriname, a former Dutch colony, is the smallest independent country in South America with a population of approximately 600,000 people. It traditionally has one of the lowest murder rates in the region. But the murder rate has risen to 30 murders per 100,000 people by 2024, according to data collected by think tank Insight Crime.