Knife-wielding man attacks commuters in Japan, 3 dead

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – As many as three people were killed and more than a dozen injured, when a man carrying a knife in each hand, attacked commuters just outside Tokyo during Tuesday’s morning rush hour.

Most of the victims were school girls, who were lined up at a bus stop near Noborito Park in the city of Kawasaki, Kyodo news reported. Police said one girl and a man died of wounds.

Japan's national public broadcaster the NHK, said the attacker was captured, and two knives were found at the spot. The incident occurred at around 7:40 am (GMT 10:40 PM Monday).

Dozens of children were seen running and screaming for help, with their school bags and books scattered on the ground.

The suspect attacker believed to be in his 50s, died in the hospital, as a result of a self-inflicted wound in the neck, the Kyodo report said.

Most of the victims were students of a well-known private Catholic school.

The deceased included 11-year-old girl, identified as sixth-grader Hanako Kuribayashi of Tokyo, and a 39-year-old man believed to be the father of another pupil.

They died in hospital from deep wounds inflicted in their necks.

Expressing regret over the incident, Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo described the incident as “harrowing”.

Abe said: "It was an extremely harrowing incident in which many small children were victimized, and I feel strong resentment... I will take all possible measures to protect the safety of children."

Violent crime is rare in Japan.

In a somewhat similar stabbing incident in 2010, more than a dozen people were injured on a school bus and a commuter bus in a Tokyo suburb. Two years ago, a 28-year-old man drove a truck into a crowded pedestrian crossing in Tokyo, killing three people, and then fatally stabbed four more.