Japan: 16 injured in mass stabbing in Kawasaki

A picture of the crime scene. Pic/AFP

At least 16 people, including eight primary school children, suffered injuries in a suspected stabbing attack in the Japanese city of Kawasaki on early Tuesday, state media said.

According to Japan's national broadcaster NHK, authorities confirmed that two children and an adult were without vital signs after the incident took place near Noborito train station.

A male suspect, likely in his 40s to 50s, reportedly began slashing at people waiting at the station and was badly hurt after stabbing himself in the shoulder. He was detained on the spot by the police later.

Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Tokyo, said that the attack took place at a time when the station was very busy with commuters.

Footage broadcast on local television channels showed that emergency medical tents were put up to treat the wounded.

The broadcaster said two knives were spotted at the scene, but there was no immediate confirmation from officials. The attack took place at the time of the morning commute and school run, with one eyewitness saying it occurred by a bus stop.

"I heard the sound of lots of ambulances and I saw a man lying near a bus stop bleeding," the man, who was not identified, told NHK.

Japan has one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the developed world and mass attacks are extremely rare.

In 2018, a man was arrested in central Japan after stabbing one person to death and injuring two others aboard a bullet train, an attack that prompted new security measures on the famed rail service.

And in 2016, a man stabbed 19 people to death in a disability centre south of Tokyo in what he described as a mission to rid the world of people with mental illness.

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Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from Agencies