A 20-year-old man disguised as the ‘Joker’, a villain from the Batman comics, has caused chaos in the Tokyo subway this Sunday, October 31, when he attacked travelers with a knife and then set fire to a liquid flammable inside the wagon in which it was traveling. At least 17 people have been injured and the police have already arrested the attacker.
Videos broadcast on social media show people running in terror and fleeing the subway car through the windows to escape the smoke, fire and chaos generated after the attack. The event took place at the Kokuryo station , in the west of the Japanese capital, around 20:00 local time, 11:00 GMT, coinciding with the closure of the polling stations that have hosted the polls of the elections to the lower house of the Japanese Parliament that have been held this Sunday.
People fleeing on the Keio Line fire pic.twitter.com/ZfN1pD0C2V
— Shizuku β (@ siz33) October 31, 2021
According to the first police investigations, the subject himself has confirmed to the authorities that his intention was “to kill people in order to be sentenced to death” . Moments before the attack began, the ‘Joker’ was in an empty wagon dressed in a purple suit and shiny shirt, similar to those worn by the mythical Batman villain in the last superhero movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, smoking a cigarette. As shown in a video also broadcast on social networks.
At one point, the detainee has pulled out a knife and started attacking the travelers around him, who have started running. After the stabbing attack, the subject has poured a flammable liquid into the car and set it on fire, causing chaos throughout the train with scenes of terrified people fleeing the flames and jumping from the windows onto the subway platform.
Keio Line fire (terrorism?) Regulation line was pasted pic.twitter.com/TJDkIef0EO
— Shizuku β (@ siz33) October 31, 2021
The train driver, upon being informed of what was happening, activated the emergency braking system and stopped the train to evacuate the passengers.
Japan has held a general election this Sunday in which some 105.6 million Japanese have been able to cast their vote in one of the more than 46,000 polling stations spread throughout the country. The elections have caused an unusual movement of people on public transport on a non-working day.
