A deadly knife attack in eastern China on Saturday killed at least five people and left 15 injured, according to local police.

Authorities in the city of Anqing in Anhui province received a report on Saturday afternoon that a man had stabbed pedestrians on the street with a knife, according to a statement by an Anqing district police station on its Weibo social media account.

The attacker was arrested and the injured were taken to the hospital for treatment, police said. The reason for the attack was not immediately clear, and the case is under investigation.

A blood bank in Anqing called for people to donate to the injured, saying its blood reserves were running low, according to a local newspaper report.

Chinese law restricts the sale and possession of firearms, and mass attacks are generally carried out with knives.

Perpetrators of similar attacks in the past have been described as mentally ill or bearing grudges against society.