A man dressed in Batman’s Joker costume and brandishing a knife on a Tokyo commuter train on Sunday stabbed several passengers before starting a fire, which sent people scrambling to escape and jumping from windows, police and witnesses said.
The Tokyo Fire Department said 17 passengers were injured, including three seriously. Not all of them were stabbed and most of the other injuries were not serious, the agency said.
The attacker, identified as a 24-year-old man, was arrested on the spot and was being investigated on suspicion of attempted murder, NHK said. His motive was not immediately known.
Witnesses told police that the attacker was wearing a bright outfit — a green shirt, a blue suit and a purple coat — like the Joker in Batman comics or someone going to a Halloween event, according to media reports. Tokyo police officials said the attack happened inside the Keio train near the Kokuryo station.
Television footage showed a number of firefighters, police officials and paramedics rescuing the passengers, many of whom escaped through train windows. In one video, passengers were running from another car, where flames were gushing.
The attack was the second involving a knife on a Tokyo train in two months. In August, the day before the Tokyo Olympics closing ceremony, a 36-year-old man stabbed 10 passengers on a commuter train in Tokyo in a random burst of violence. The suspect later told police that he wanted to attack women who looked happy.
