A SEVEN-year-old girl has died and seven more injured after a teen went on a bloody knife rampage at an elementary school in Croatia.
The horror attack took place shortly before 10am on Friday in the usually quiet Prečko neighbourhood of capital Zagreb.
Heartbreaking video footage published by Croatian media showed children, aged just five to 11, running away from the school building.
Parents, teachers, and children were thrust into a horrifying ordeal as a 19-year-old assailant stormed the Prečko Elementary School, leaving blood and devastation in his wake.
Witnesses reported the attacker entering the school and targeting his young victims one by one in a chillingly methodical rampage.
State HRT television said the depraved killer went straight into the first classroom he found and attacked the children.
Meanwhile, frantic parents gathered anxiously at the school gates to see if their children were safe.
One father, visibly shaken, recounted the chaos: “Everything was chaotic, the police were at the school, the perpetrator ran from the school to the ambulance, 30-40 metres away.
“He was covered in blood, he was supposedly 19 years old, wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt.
“My child is in third grade, she didn’t know what happened. And the children who were in first grade said that he went inside and attacked them one by one.”
For some parents, the nightmare is far from over.
A desperate mum shared her anguish with local outlet Jutarnji, saying her first-grade child is still missing.
“No one will tell me anything. The other children have gone home, but my baby… she’s still not here.”
A tearful school staff told outlet 24Sata: “It was terrible, we heard screams and ran.
“I ran away from the school. There were screams, it was terrible.
“I don’t know where my head is. Terrible, terrible… I’m trying to get some parents on the phone. I don’t know what to say, I’m still in shock.”
Police described the attacker as a 19-year-old “young male” and said he had been detained.
He was identified by local media as a former student of the school.
Emergency services flooded the site, with at least six ambulances and even a helicopter landing on the school grounds.
Health Minister Irena Hrstić and Croatian police confirmed that one child – a seven-year-old girl – has died in the attack.
Students and teachers who were injured have been rushed to nearby hospitals.
One teacher – who was reportedly about to retire – is currently fighting for her life after being rushed to hospital in critical condition.
It is the first school murder in Croatia in 52 years.
Last May, a teenager in neighbouring Serbia opened fire at a school in the capital Belgrade, killing nine fellow students and a school guard.
Speaking on the horror attack, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said: “We are appalled, as is the entire Croatian public, by this great tragedy that occurred this morning at the Prečko Elementary School in Zagreb.
“We also express our regret and sympathy to the families of the injured children at the Prečko Elementary School.”
He added that authorities are still working to determine exactly what happened.
Plenković said several children have been taken to various hospitals in Zagreb.
The elementary school principal, meanwhile, said distressed: “We can’t be well, we’re not well. We’re not making any statement, please be understanding at this time.”
The acting director of the Clinic for Children’s Diseases Iva Hojsak, told reporters outside the school: “I think this case has absolutely horrified and devastated us all.
“Two boys, aged seven and 11, were brought to us with stab wounds to their bodies.
“Fortunately, they are out of danger at the moment. However, the diagnostic procedure is still ongoing and we need to determine the severity of the injuries.”
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