Shanghai, Oct 1 (IANS): Three people were killed and 15 others injured in a knife attack at a supermarket on Monday in Shanghai, local police authorities said Tuesday.

The police received a report of the incident at 9:47 p.m. and quickly arrived at the scene. The attacker, a 37-year-old man surnamed Lin, was apprehended on the spot after the police arrived, Xinhua news agency reported.

The attack came on the eve of China's seven-day National Day holiday.

The 18 victims were immediately sent to the hospital for treatment. Among them, three died despite rescue efforts and the others did not sustain life-threatening wounds. An investigation is underway.

Several Chinese cities have reported a massive surge in knife crime offences, lately.

Last month, a 10-year-old Japanese boy was stabbed while on his way to school in China's Shenzhen. He later died from his injuries with the tragic incident sending shockwaves throughout Japan and further denting the already-strained Tokyo-Beijing relationship.

Yoshiko Kijima, Japan's Consul General in Guangzhou, which includes Shenzhen, stated that the boy was stabbed in the abdomen in the presence of his mother. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa had condemned the attack as a "despicable" act against a schoolboy. She also called on Beijing to take all necessary steps to guarantee the safety of Japanese citizens.

In a similar incident in June, a knife attack occurred in Suzhou near Shanghai, where a Japanese mother and child were injured, and a Chinese woman lost her life while attempting to stop the assailant.

In the same month, police in northeast China's Jilin Province arrested an individual for attacking four foreigners and one Chinese national with a knife at a park. Among the five victims, four were foreign nationals who were invited scholars from Cornell College in the US State of Iowa and were teaching at Beihua University.

On May 24, this year, eight people were killed and one injured in a knife attack in central China's Hubei Province. The attacker, a 53-year-old man surnamed Lu who reportedly suffered from mental illness, fatally stabbed eight people and injured another in Xiaowu Township in the city of Xiaogan.

On May 21, three people were killed and two others injured after a knife attack that occurred in a park in Chenzhou City of central China's Hunan Province. The male suspect surnamed Huang, 35, was apprehended by the police, reported Xinhua news agency.

Two days before that, two people were killed and 10 others injured after a knife attack at a primary school in Guixi City in east China's Jiangxi Province. The female suspect surnamed Pan, 45, was arrested by the police.