'Random' Stabbing and Arson on Tokyo Train... Escaping Passengers in Chaos

Wielding a weapon, spraying suspected acid substance, and arson attack

A video uploaded by a Japanese netizen on Twitter. Passengers are seen escaping the train through the windows. As of 10 PM on the 31st, the video recorded about 4.7 million views. / Photo by Twitter capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seohyun] An incident occurred on a train in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan, where a man wielded a weapon and set a fire, injuring more than a dozen people.

According to Japanese media such as NHK and ANN, around 8 p.m. on the 31st, on a Keio Line train passing near Kokuryo Station in Chofu City, Tokyo Metropolis, a man wielded a weapon and ignited a chemical substance, causing injuries to passengers.

Footage reported by NHK shows that when the train made an emergency stop at the station, passengers hurriedly escaped through the windows even before the doors opened.

Kyodo News reported that the liquid the man sprayed was hydrochloric acid, and that the number of injured from this incident is at least 15. Among the injured, a man in his 60s who was stabbed is in critical condition and unconscious.

Local police arrested a man in his 20s at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder.

A video posted on Twitter by a Japanese netizen. Passengers are seen hurriedly moving to avoid the arson scene. / Photo by Twitter capture

Videos showing passengers fleeing the crime or escaping through the windows have spread on the internet. The footage also captured flames rapidly igniting inside the train car. Japanese media reported that fire trucks and ambulances with personnel in their 30s and 40s quickly responded to the scene, extinguished the fire, and transported the injured.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.