While playing marbles, two children were hacked to death by their uncle.

Three children were playing marbles in an empty lot when Le Van Hong suddenly rushed in with a knife and slashed them repeatedly. One girl was lucky to escape, but Dang and Chi died.

On the morning of July 8, the people of Pheo village (Nguyet An commune, Ngoc Lac district, Thanh Hoa) were still shocked by the deaths of Le Minh Dang (7 years old) and Le Ngoc Chi (5 years old) - children of Le Van Hai (43 years old).

The children were playing when their uncle rushed in and slashed them.

“Never before has such a horrific tragedy happened in this Muong land. It is so heartbreaking,” said Mr. Bui Hong Van (70 years old).

Mr. Van said that at around 4:30 a.m. on July 7, Dang and Chi, along with his niece Ngoc Anh (3rd grade student), invited each other to play marbles in the yard in front of their uncle's house, about 50 meters from Mr. Hai's house.

While the three children were engrossed in a game of marbles, suddenly Le Van Hong (37 years old) rushed in with a machete (a type of knife used to clear fields, 50 cm long) and slashed them repeatedly.

“Hong slashed Ngoc Anh first but missed. The girl was scared and hid in a nearby pile of firewood. In a split second, he continued to quickly slash Dang and Chi who were playing marbles on the ground. Each child was hit once in the neck and twice in the head,” said Mr. Van.

The location where two children were playing when their uncle used a knife to slash them. Photo: Nguyen Duong.

At that time, Mr. Hai was feeding the chickens in the garden when he heard Anh's screams. He ran over in panic and saw a horrifying scene. The two little children lay motionless, gasping for breath in a pool of blood. Overwhelmed with grief, the father held the older child in his arms and cried and screamed in panic.

Seeing this, Le Van Hong ran straight through the bamboo bushes nearby. On the way to escape, he used a knife to stab himself in the stomach twice and slashed his head three times. After running about 50 meters, he jumped over the stream and lay unconscious in a pool of blood.

Afterwards, the people took the two children and the perpetrator to the hospital for emergency treatment. However, the victims died on the way due to severe injuries.

Locals said that suspect Le Van Hong is the two children’s uncle and is unmarried. Hong has long been a gentle, hard-working person and has never had any conflicts or fights with anyone.

However, 4 days before the crime, Hong showed signs of depression and psychological instability. This suspect also bought weed killer to commit suicide but was stopped by relatives in time. Seeing that Hong was not normal, the family always had to assign people to follow and take care of him.

Yesterday morning, the family was very happy to see Hong back to normal and able to go to work in the fields. They felt secure to go to work, but in the afternoon, the heartbreaking incident happened. The suspect was in a deep coma and is being actively treated by doctors at Ngoc Lac General Hospital under close police supervision.

Hasty funeral without portrait

On the morning of July 8, the bodies of Le Minh Dang and Le Ngoc Chi were handed over to their families by the police. Many neighbors and relatives were present to help Hai's family with the funeral arrangements for the two children. A tent was hastily set up in front of the dilapidated level 4 house with a corrugated iron roof.

The funeral of two young children was hastily held on the morning of July 8. Photo: Nguyen Duong.

Since her two children died, Ms. Bui Thi Nam sobbed and fainted on the bed. Her relatives were always by her side to care for and comfort her. “My two children, please come back to me,” the mother screamed in despair when she regained consciousness.

Outside, the funerals of the two children were hastily organized according to the customs of the Muong people. “The two children passed away so suddenly and their bodies were not intact. The family did not want to wait too long because it would only add to the grief. Because the village is far from the district center, the portraits of the two children have not been prepared yet. We will bury the two children first, then prepare the portraits and altar,” a relative shared.

According to this person, Mr. Hai's family is in a very difficult situation. The couple lives a gentle and harmonious life. Both children are very obedient and loved by everyone. Dang has just finished first grade and is an excellent student.

“At the end of the school year, my child showed off his certificate of merit. I promised to give him a reward, but before I could do so, he passed away…”, Mr. Thanh, the uncle of the two victims, choked up.

After 10am, people carried the two coffins to the cemetery in the valley amid the choking cries of relatives.

According to ZIng.vn