PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) — A knife attack outside Suriname ’s capital of Paramaribo killed at least nine people, including five children, police said Sunday.

Officials said the victims included the attacker's children and neighbors who came to their aid. Local media reported the victims were located at multiple homes.

The attack took place in Richelieu in the Commewijne district about 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of Paramaribo.

In a statement Sunday, Suriname’s Police Corps said the male suspect attempted to attack police officers who arrived on the scene and he was injured during his arrest. He is now recovering in a hospital.

Police said a sixth child and another adult were seriously injured in the attack and were being treated at a hospital in Paramaribo.

On her Facebook page, Surinamese President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons reacted to the news, saying the attacker took the life of his children and his neighbors.

“I wish all the bereaved much strength, resilience, and comfort in this unimaginably difficult time,” Geerlings-Simons wrote in Dutch, the nation’s official language.

Suriname, a former Dutch colony, is the smallest independent nation in South America, with a population of approximately 600,000 people. It has traditionally had one of the lowest murder rates in the region. But the murder rate spiked in 2024 to 30 homicides per 100,000 residents, according to data gathered by the think tank Insight Crime.