Connect with us

News & Knowledge / Facts

Japan: knife and liquid spray attack leaves 15 injured #Japan #knife #liquid #spray #attack #leaves #injured

Published

on

[TOKYO] Fifteen people were injured on Friday (December 26) in a stabbing attack at a rubber factory in central Japan, during which an unspecified liquid was also sprayed, emergency services said.

“The fifteen people were hospitalized,” a fire official in the town of Mishima, southwest of Tokyo, told AFP.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that of the 15 injuries, eight were due to stab wounds and seven were due to liquid.

Some local media, citing unnamed sources, said the liquid appeared to be bleach.

Five of the victims were classified as “in need of emergency treatment” by first responders at the scene, but all remained conscious, the official said.

Tomoharu Sugiyama, another fire official, told AFP that a first call was received around 4:30 p.m. (0730 GMT) from a rubber factory saying that “people had been stabbed by someone” and that a “spray-like liquid” had been used.

Japanese media, including public broadcaster NHK, reported that police had arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder.

THE Asahi Shimbun The daily cited investigative sources saying the man in his 30s was linked to the factory.

He was wearing what appeared to be a gas mask, the newspaper and other media outlets said.

Asahi Shimbun also said he was apparently armed with what he described as a survival knife.

NHK said the man told police he was 38 years old.

Ambulances were sent to the Yokohama Rubber factory, which, according to its website, makes tires for trucks and buses.

Aerial footage from NHK showed rescue workers and vehicles, including fire trucks, parked outside the factory.

Violent crime is relatively rare in Japan, where the murder rate is low and gun laws are among the strictest in the world.

However, there are occasional stabbings and even shootings, including the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.

A Japanese man was sentenced to death in October for a shooting and stabbing that killed four people, including two police officers, in 2023.

A 43-year-old man was also charged with attempted murder in May over a stabbing attack at Tokyo’s Toda-mae subway station.

Japan remains shaken by memories of a major subway attack in 1995, when members of the Aum Shinrikyo sect sprayed sarin gas on trains, killing 14 people and sickening more than 5,800. AFP

Decoding Asia Newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new world order. Sign up here to receive the Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.



Source link
#Japan #knife #liquid #spray #attack #leaves #injured

News & Knowledge / Facts

Eurostar passengers brace for further disruption after day of cancellations #Eurostar #passengers #brace #disruption #day #cancellations

Published

on

By