TOKYO, Japan. Panic briefly gripped commuters during the Wednesday evening rush hour as a man wielding a knife attacked two passengers on a train arriving at a Tokyo subway station. The suspect, identified by authorities as a 43-year-old man, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
The incident occurred aboard a train pulling into the subway station when the attacker slashed a man in his 20s in the head as he boarded a car, Japan’s national broadcaster NHK reported. A second victim, a man in his 30s, suffered a slashed finger while he and other passengers subdued the attacker.
NHK quoted a witness who saw the suspect holding a knife inside the train car. “He did not resist when other passengers seized him,” the witness said. The same witness added that upon returning to the platform, he saw the first victim, bleeding and slumped on the floor, asking for an ambulance.
Authorities said the injuries to both victims were not believed to be life-threatening.
Following the attack, Tokyo Metro Co. temporarily suspended operations on the line to allow for the inspection of train cars involved in the incident.
While Japan is widely regarded as one of the safest countries in the world, incidents involving random knife or homemade explosive attacks have increased in recent years, sparking public concern over safety in traditionally secure public spaces like trains and stations.
Police have not yet released details about the suspect’s identity or possible motive, and investigations are ongoing.
Edgaroo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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