SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 13 February 2025, Thursday |

Man dressed as Joker injures 17 on Tokyo train

On Sunday evening, a 24-year-old man dressed as Batman’s Joker attacked passengers on a Tokyo train line, wounding 17 people as many party-goers traveled into the city center for Halloween celebrations, according to media reports.

According to reports in the media, police arrested the alleged attacker on the spot. According to media reports, a man in his 60s was stabbed and is in severe condition, while witnesses claimed the perpetrator splashed fluid throughout the train and sparked a fire.

A video posted on Twitter shows a steady line of people fleeing a train car where a fire broke out seconds later. Another video showed passengers running out of the train’s windows and onto the platform where the train had come to a halt.

“I believed it was a Halloween stunt,” one witness told the Yomiuri newspaper, recounting how other passengers rushed towards his train car in fear. “Then I noticed a man slowly walking this direction, waving a large knife.” He claimed there was blood on the knife.

Another video on Twitter showed a bespectacled man dressed in a purple suit and bright green shirt, as worn by the Joker, seated in an empty train puffing on a cigarette, his legs crossed and looking calm. He can be seen through the window being surrounded by law enforcement in a subsequent clip.

The suspect reportedly told officials that he “intended to kill people so he could be sentenced to death,” according to local media.

The attack happened around 8 p.m. (1100 GMT) on the Keio express line going for Shinjuku, the world’s busiest rail station, according to media reports.

When Japanese voters went to the polls for a lower house election on Sunday, partial service on the Keio line remained suspended.

    Source:
  • Reuters