A PRIMARY school student who witnessed a theft near his home in Longgang District was stabbed to death by the thief early Tuesday morning.

Guan Zequn, 12, died two hours later at Pingshan People's Hospital, a Daily Sunshine report said yesterday.

Doctors with the hospital said Guan was bleeding profusely when he was brought in at about 6:30 a.m. He was suffering a 20-centimeter cut down from chest to belly button.

The boy, who lived on the second floor of a building on Tongfu Road, was going to school at 6:15 a.m. Tuesday when he caught a man committing theft, the report said.

As Guan cried out for help, the man stabbed him with a kitchen knife and then fled.

The boy was found lying in a pool of blood by his parents, natives of Meizhou, Guangdong Province.

Police said Guan's killer was still at large, and the case was under investigation.

Children should not risk their lives to stop crimes, police said. Instead they should leave the crime scene and then dial 110 or call for help.

(Li Jing)