A 24-year-old man dressed in Batman’s Joker costume attacked passengers on a Tokyo train line on Sunday evening, injuring 17 people as many party-goers headed into the city centre for Halloween gatherings, media reported.
Police arrested the suspected attacker on the spot, media reported. A man believed to be in his 60s was unconscious and in critical condition after being stabbed, while witnesses also said the attacker had spread fluid around the train and started a fire, according to media.
One video uploaded on Twitter showed a steady stream of people running away from a train car where, seconds later, a blaze lit up. Another video showed passengers rushing to squeeze out of the train’s windows and onto the platform where the train had made an emergency stop.
“I thought it was a Halloween stunt,” one witness told the Yomiuri newspaper, recalling the moment he saw other passengers running in a panic towards his train car. “Then, I saw a man walking this way, slowly waving a long knife.” There was blood on the knife, he said.
Another video on Twitter showed a bespectacled man dressed in a purple suit and bright green shirt, as worn by the Joker, seated in an empty train puffing on a cigarette, his legs crossed and looking calm. He can be seen through the window being surrounded by law enforcement in a subsequent clip.
Local media reported later that the suspect told authorities he “wanted to kill people so he could be sentenced to death”.
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The attack occurred on the Keio express line bound for Shinjuku, the world’s busiest rail station, at around 8 p.m. (1100 GMT), media said.
Partial service on the Keio line remained suspended late on Sunday, when Japanese voters went to the polls in a lower house election.
According to a report, at least ten passengers have been injured, one seriously, after a man wielding a knife dressed as the joker on a commuter train in Tokyo stabbed several passengers, reportedly sprayed passengers with acid and set the carriage on fire.
Police officials in Tokyo said the attack happened inside the Keio train near Kokuryo station and they received a report about the man around 8pm on Sunday night in the city.
Halloween: Man dressed as Joker injures 17 on train in Tokyo
It is believed that the fire spread from a seat in the fifth carriage of the limited express train, which stopped at Kokuryo Station, an emergency stop.
One passenger, believed to be in his 60s or 70s lost consciousness after being stabbed, according to Kyodo News.
It has not been confirmed by police if hydrochloric acid was sprayed on the train.
A male passenger said: ‘I heard a loud bang and saw flames and smoke in the back. Everyone was panicking,’
The attacker, a 24-year-old man, was arrested on the spot and is being investigated, NHK said.
The incident was posted on social media by witnesses and footage on the television showed firefighters, police officials and paramedics rescuing passengers.
Many passengers escaped through train windows after the doors failed to open immediately when it stopped.
Many passengers escaped through train windows (pictured) after the doors failed to open immediately when it stopped
Firefighters were seen at the station
Officers were seen entering the train where the suspect sat and did not resist arrest.
According to investigative sources the man wore a character outfit.
The motive for the attack was not immediately known but it happened on a train bound for Shinjuku in central Tokyo, made up of 10 carriages.
It is the second attack involving a knife on a Tokyo train in two months.
Another attack happened in August, the day before the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics.
A 36-year-old man stabbed 10 passengers on a commuter train in Tokyo in a random burst of violence.
He later told police that he wanted to attack women who looked happy.
Also in August, two people were injured after a man sprayed another man with sulfuric acid at a subway station in Tokyo.
