(Tokyo) A man was arrested after attacking passengers on a train in Tokyo with a knife on Sunday and starting a fire on board, according to local media which reported several injuries, including one serious.
The Japanese public television channel NHK mentioned at least eight injured, including one serious, while the Kyodo news agency mentioned 15 injured.
A video circulating on Twitter showed passengers evacuating through windows the train of the Keio line which was immobilized at a station in the western suburbs of the capital.
IMAGE FROM THE TWITTER @ SIZ33 ACCOUNT VIA REUTERS
The suspect poured an as yet unidentified liquid aboard the train and set it on fire, according to NHK and Kyodo.
Asked by AFP, the police declined any comment, and the Keio railway company was not immediately reachable.
The attack came at around 8 p.m. local time, according to the company’s website, as polling stations were closing in the country which held parliamentary elections on Sunday.
Assaults are rare in Japan, where gun laws are otherwise extremely strict.
However in August, two more attacks took place on Tokyo public transport.
In early August, while the Olympic Games were being held in the Japanese capital, a knife attack on another suburban train left ten people injured.
Then on August 24, two people suffered burns with sulfuric acid in a metro station in the capital.
In both cases, the suspects, Japanese, were arrested soon after.