A man armed with a hatchet has killed four children and wounded at least five others after jumping a wall and invading a daycare centre in Brazil.

The dead were between the ages of 5 and 7, authorities said.

The assailant turned himself in at a police station and did not appear to have any connection with the centre, which offers preschool education and after school activities.

Authorities were searching for a motive, the police detective leading the investigation, Ronnie Esteves, told television reporters in Blumenau, a city in southern Brazil, near the Atlantic coast.

Images broadcast on networks showed weeping parents outside the private daycare centre called Cantinho do Bom Pastor.

The attack took place on the centre’s playground, according to the local affiliate of television network Globo.

NSC, the affiliate, showed a photo of the suspect with a closely shaved head.

Police have yet to confirm his identity.

Blumenau Mayor, Mário Hildebrandt, suspended classes and said he will declare a 30-day mourning period.

The state government said in a statement that rumours circulating on social media of other potential attacks were false.

The mayor said five wounded children were take to hospitals. One was in serious condition.

Another daycare attack happened in same state

School attacks in Brazil have happened with greater frequency in recent years.

Last week, a student in Sao Paulo fatally stabbed a teacher and wounded several others there.

Brazil has seen at least one past attack on a daycare centre.

That attack also occurred in Santa Catarina state, in 2021, when an assailant used a dagger to kill three children under 2 years old and two adults.

From 2000 to 2022, 16 attacks or violent episodes happened in schools, four of them in the second half of last year, according to a report from researchers led by Daniel Cara, an education professor at the University of Sao Paulo.

The researchers prepared the report for the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

“There is no greater pain than that of a family who loses its children or grandchildren, even more so in an act of violence against innocent and defenceless kids,” the President wrote on Twitter.

“My thoughts and prayers are the families of victims and the community of Blumenau in the face of the monstrosity of what occurred.”

Blumenau, a city of 366,000 people, is famous for its annual Oktoberfest festival.