A student has died and seven others have been injured this Tuesday after a knife attack at a school in the Basakshehir district, in Istanbul, located in the west of Turkey.
The Turkish Minister of Education, Yusuf Tekin, has confirmed to the media this new balance after the fatal victim succumbed to the injuries caused by the weapon used by the attacker, a knife.
Hours earlier, the Minister of Health, Kemal Memisoglu, had reported that one of the eight injured students was in critical condition, while two others were in "moderate" condition.
The incident occurred at the Shamil Imam Hatip Institute around 8:35 a.m. (local time). The motives for the attack are currently unknown. Turkish authorities have appointed two education inspectors to clarify what happened.
The governor of the Basaksehir district, Cemil Ozgur Onegi, has detailed that the perpetrator is a 15-year-old girl, a student from another school, who entered the institute dressed in school uniform and began to stab students indiscriminately until she was subdued by security forces.
The alleged attacker, who resides in the same neighborhood, near the institute, has been arrested and remains in police custody awaiting interrogation, according to a statement.
In recent months, Turkey has experienced a rise in violent episodes in schools, a trend that has raised alarms. Since April, around a dozen students and three teachers have lost their lives, in addition to dozens of injuries in this type of attack.