Anonymous ID: 253c9c Oct. 31, 2021, 8:57 a.m. No.14893172   ๐Ÿ—„๏ธ.is ๐Ÿ”—kun   >>3174 >>3176 >>3197 >>3485

Knife-wielding man sets fire on Tokyo train and injures 17

Oct 31, 2021

 

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 trainโ€™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.

 

โ€œI heard a loud bang and saw flames and smoke in the back. Everyone was panicking,โ€ 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 โ€œBatmanโ€ 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.

 

Sundayโ€™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.

 

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/10/31/national/crime-legal/keio-line-train-stabbing/