Man dressed as Joker nabbed after attacking riders on Tokyo train
TOKYO - A 24-year-old man, dressed in the costume of the Joker from the Batman series, attacked passengers on a Tokyo train line yesterday evening, injuring at least 10 people as many partygoers headed into the city centre for Halloween gatherings.
Police arrested the suspect on the spot, the media reported.
A man in his 60s was unconscious and in critical condition after being stabbed, while witnesses said the attacker also spread fluid around the train and started a fire.
A video uploaded on Twitter and broadcast on NHK showed a steady stream of people running away from a train car where, seconds later, a small blast caused a fire. 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," a 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."
He said there was blood on the knife.
The attack occurred on the Keio express line bound for Shinjuku, the world's busiest rail station, at around 8pm.
The line operator said services had been partially suspended after "an incident involving injuries" near Kokuryo in the Japanese capital's western suburbs.
TV footage showed scores of firefighters, police and emergency vehicles outside the station where the train had stopped.
In August, nine people were wounded, one of them seriously, in a stabbing attack on a commuter train in Tokyo, with the suspect later handing himself in after fleeing the scene. - REUTERS, AFP
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