Beijing: Four American teachers at a small Iowa university were attacked with knives in a public park in northeastern China's Jilin province, US media and US government officials reported.

The attack happened when Cornell College teachers were visiting a partner university in China, news agency CNN said. "We are working through the proper channels and urging the US Embassy on appropriate cases to ensure that the victims first receive quality care for their injuries and then are able to leave China in the most medically feasible way," Iowa Congressman Mariannette Miller-Meeks wrote on X.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds wrote on Twitter that she was in contact with the US State Department about the "horrific" attack. College spokeswoman Jane Visser told CNN that the stabbing incident took place in the city of Jilin and the Chinese partner school was Beihua University.