BEIJING (REUTERS) - Police in China on Thursday (Sept 29) arrested a man suspected of killing 16 people, including three children, found dead in a remote south-western village, state media said.

Mass killings are rare in China and the incident dominated discussion on social media platforms. It was not immediately clear how the victims were killed, or what the motive was.

The suspect was arrested in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, about 200km from Yema, the site of the murders, state news agency Xinhua said, adding that the victims were members of six families.

The bodies were found on Thursday at different locations in the village, a state-backed news website, ThePaper.cn, said, adding that the suspect had given authorities some details of the incident.

The public security bureau in the nearby city of Qujing told Reuters it was investigating the incident, but declined to provide details.