BEIJING - Police in southwest China are searching for a man suspected of murdering his parents and four other relatives after escaping from a mental hospital, state media said Wednesday.

Chen Wenfa, the prime suspect in the grisly murders that occurred Monday in Yunnan province, is a serious threat to public security, the Yunnan Information News said, citing local police.

Police in Wumeng township have offered a 50,000-yuan (S$10,140) reward for his capture, the paper said.

Chen, 21, is suspected of killing his parents, an aunt and uncle, grandmother and a cousin, by hacking them to death with a blunt object, previous reports said.

His parents had asked local officials to have him committed about two weeks ago, the Yunnan Information News said, but Chen escaped from the hospital and returned home.  

Chen's mother also had a history of mental illness, it added.