17 injured in Tokyo train knife and arson attack

Seventeen people were injured in a knife and arson attack on a train in Tokyo on Sunday night, according to the police.

The arrested suspect told investigators that he adored Batman villain character the Joker, local media reported Monday.

Kyota Hattori, 24 years old, arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder on Sunday night, was also quoted as saying that he "wanted to kill people and be given the death penalty" and that he had been "thinking from around June of being sentenced to death."

Photos and videos posted on social media from the scene showed Hattori was wearing a Joker-like costume with a green shirt and purple suit.

He told the police he chose a limited express train bound for the city center with few stops because it is generally crowded with passengers. The suspect even expressed regret at failing to kill anyone in the attack.

The police said that Hattori visited Tokyo's Shibuya district which was a hot spot for costumed partygoers to celebrate Halloween about two hours before the incident.

Among the injured, a man in his 70s was seriously hurt after allegedly being stabbed by Hattori in the chest. The other 16 victims aged between their teens to their 60s sustained minor injuries including smoke inhalation.

Hattori also allegedly set a fire on the train using lighter fluid, burning part of the fifth carriage.

The incident took place on a 10-car train bound for Shinjuku in central Tokyo and caused panic among passengers who scrambled to escape through train windows.

After the incident, the train stopped at a station that is not originally planned for the fast train, but the doors did not open immediately. The operator Keio Corp. said as the train did not stop at the right position, the staff, unaware of what had happened at that time, decided not to open doors to prevent passengers from falling through a gap between the train and the platform.

Police found a knife, several plastic bottles which possibly contained lighter fluid, and an aerosol can in a train car.

After the incident, the transport ministry asked all the railway companies in Japan to strengthen vigilance to ensure safety.

A number of attacks on trains and station premises in the Tokyo area have occurred recently.

A man stabbed and slashed 10 passengers in August on an Odakyu Electric Railway commuter train. Two men were stabbed on October 15 by a man at JR Ueno Station. In a separate incident, two people were injured in a Tokyo subway station in late August as a man sprayed sulfuric acid at the face of another man.