Suspect arrested after injuring 10 in Tokyo train stabbing spree

(Update 1: updates casualties, adds details)

Tokyo, Aug 6 (EFE).- At least 10 people were injured, one of them seriously, on Friday after a man went on a stabbing spree against passengers travelling in a commuter train in Tokyo, local authorities said.

The incident took place around 8.30 pm on the Odakyu train line at the Seijogakuen station, situated in the Setagaya district, and comes at a time when the city is hosting the Olympic Games.

The assailant brandished a knife and started stabbing passengers in the car, before dropping the weapon and fleeing from the scene, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police said.

At least 10 people were injured and one of them received serious wounds, although none of the victims were in a critical condition, authorities said.

Witnesses described scenes of panic inside the train, with passengers trying to run out of the car amid peak office hour attendance.

The attacker was described as a man in his 20’s, who also dropped his mobile phone in the train wagon and escaped on the train tracks.

Authorities launched a search operation and nabbed the suspect an hour and a half later at a 24-hour store at a nearby district after employees alerted the police.

According to state broadcaster NHK, the man entered the shop with bloodstained clothes and confessed to the assistants that he was the perpetrator of the incident being aired on the news, adding that he was tired of running.

The incident led to the train operator Odakyu Electric Railway suspending its services in the area, including on the Shinjuku station, one of the busiest in the Japanese capital. EFE