Man held after attack leaves at least 17 hurt on Tokyo train
A photo supplied by a passenger shows people escaping from the windows of a Keio Line train at Kokuryo Station in Tokyo on Sunday night following a stabbing and arson attack on board. | KYODO
A man wielding a knife attacked passengers and lit a fire aboard a train in Tokyo on Sunday, leaving at least 17 people injured, one seriously, reports said.
Police later arrested a 24-year-old man who was carrying a knife.
The attack, which occurred on a Keio Line train running near Kokuryo Station in the city of Chofu, Tokyo, sent passengers scrambling to escape. A video posted on social media showed more than a dozen people fleeing from a burning train car and huddling at the end of the next carriage. Another video showed passengers climbing through the train’s windows at a station, with the doors still shut.
A male passenger believed to be in his 60s or 70s lost consciousness after being stabbed, while the others sustained minor injuries including smoke inhalation, the police said.
The police received a report of a knife-wielding man at around 8 p.m. They said reports that hydrochloric acid had been used on the train had not been confirmed.
The fire is believed to have spread from a seat in the fifth car of the limited express train, which made an emergency stop at Kokuryo Station.
“I heard a loud bang and saw flames and smoke in the back. Everyone was panicking,” a male passenger said.
Police officers were seen entering the carriage in which the suspect was seated. The man reportedly did not resist being taken into custody.
In a video posted to social media, a man believed to be the assailant is seen dressed in clothes that resemble those of The Joker, the infamous villain from the “Batman” franchise. After the train had stopped, he was seen sitting alone on a train seat, calmly smoking a cigarette. Another video showed a man who appeared to be the same person surrounded by police.
The incident, which caused panic among passengers who could not see amid the fire and smoke, took place on a 10-car train bound for Shinjuku Station.
Sunday’s incident was the latest in a string of attacks linked to rail transportation and came as people were heading to the city center for Halloween revelry.
Two people were injured in a Tokyo subway station in August after a man sprayed sulfuric acid into the face of another man.
Earlier that month, a man stabbed passengers on an Odakyu Electric Railway commuter train in Tokyo amid heightened security for the Tokyo Olympics.
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https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/ ... -stabbing/
