Knife attack in a train in Tokyo, a few days before the end of the Olympics: nine people were injured, including one seriously
Sylvie Claire / August 7, 2021
Nine people were injured Friday in a knife attack on a commuter train in Tokyo, and a suspect was arrested shortly after the incident after fleeing and surrendering, admitting to being the perpetrator, according to local media.
Violent acts of this kind are very rare in Japan, and this attack comes as the country's capital is on high alert as the host city of the Olympic Games.
The attack took place in the evening on a commuter train in Setagaya, a district in western Tokyo. A woman in her 20s was seriously injured, according to the public television channel NHK, citing emergency services.
The place where the assault was committed is located a few kilometers from the Olympic site of the equestrian competitions.
The train company involved, Odakyu Electric Railway, announced on its website that it had suspended part of its service due to an attack on a train, without giving further details. The train was moved to an emergency stop.
According to media reports, the suspect, a young man in his 20s, was arrested by police after he went to a shopkeeper's and told the manager that he was the perpetrator of the attack.
According to the Kyodo news agency, the perpetrator had left his knife and a telephone on the train.
Contacted by AFP, the local police and emergency services declined to comment on the case for the time being.
Japanese gun laws are very strict, but crimes have occasionally been committed with other weapons.
In 2019, a man killed two people including a schoolgirl and injured more than 10 people in a rampage that targeted children waiting for a bus.
In 2018, a man was arrested in central Japan after he stabbed one person to death and injured two others on a train.