Perpetrator on the loose, emergency services currently on the scene.

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, shortly after 8:30 pm this evening a man was seen wielding a knife inside a carriage on a train in operation on the Odakyu Line in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo.

Reports say several passengers were stabbed, and the perpetrator escaped from the train immediately afterwards by pulling the “door cock” lever that opens the train doors in an emergency. The train stopped on the tracks in between Seijogakuen-mae Station and Soshigaya-Okura Station.

At least two passengers, a man and a woman, were confirmed injured, and while the extent of their injuries are currently unknown, both were said to be conscious when emergency services arrived on the scene shortly after the incident.

The train, bound for Shinjuku, stopped just before pulling into Soshigaya-Okura Station. When the assailant was first seen with the knife, passengers onboard car 10, where the incident took place, reportedly rushed to the lead car, hitting the driver’s window and telling him to stop the train. The knife is said to have been left on the train.

This video shows the chilling moment passengers escaped from the train on the tracks, running along the platform to the exit while alerting commuters to the situation.

▼ Passengers onboard shared scenes from the train after the incident.

https://twitter.com/_Rieruchan/status/1423619891681140742

▼ According to this passenger, four people were injured in the attack.

▼ Rail staff did their best to keep passengers calm, asking them to proceed to the lead carriage to disembark.

https://twitter.com/Kosecci/status/1423623267034619905

The incident has caused major delays to rail services on the Odakyu Line. Six ambulances were dispatched to the site and the Metropolitan Police Department is currently investigating the situation. More on this story as it develops.

Update: The suspect has since been detained by police at a convenience store in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward.

Source: NHK News Web via Hachima Kikou
Top image: Pakutaso
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