Attack on a train in Tokyo: at least 10 injured, a suspect arrested
Eva Deschamps / October 31, 2021
A man has been arrested after attacking passengers on a Tokyo train with a knife on Sunday and starting a fire on board, local media said, leaving at least 10 people injured, one of them seriously.
An onboard video posted on Twitter showed panicked passengers running into the train, fleeing flames and smoke filling the carriages.
Another video showed passengers evacuating the stalled Keio line train through windows at a station in the western suburbs of the Japanese capital.
NHK said at least 10 people were injured, including one seriously - a man in his 60s - while Kyodo news agency said 15 people were injured.
The alleged assailant, who is believed to be in his 20s, attacked people with a knife and started a fire by spilling unidentified cash on the train, according to the media.
Contacted by AFP, the police declined to comment, and the Keio railway company said that an incident involving injuries occurred shortly before 20:00 near Kokyuro, a western suburb of Tokyo.
The attack came as polls were closing in the country, which was holding parliamentary elections on Sunday, and also in the middle of Halloween, a very popular holiday in the Japanese archipelago.
Attacks are rare in Japan, where the legislation on firearms is extremely strict.
However, in August, two other attacks took place on public transport in Tokyo.
In early August, during the Olympic Games in the Japanese capital, a knife attack on another commuter train left ten people injured.
Then on August 24, two people were burned with sulfuric acid in a Tokyo subway station.
In both cases, the suspects, Japanese nationals, were arrested shortly afterwards.