Fifteen men were injured in a stabbing spree at a rubber factory in Shizuoka Prefecture on Friday, during which an unspecified liquid was also sprayed.
¡°All fifteen people were sent to hospital,¡± a fire department official in the city of Mishima said.
The official, declining to be named, said that of the 15 injuries, eight were the result of stabbing and seven due to the liquid.
Some local media outlets, quoting unnamed sources, said the liquid appeared to be bleach.
Following the incident, police arrested Masaki Oyama, 38, who claims to be a Mishima resident, on charges of attempted murder. Oyama is suspected of stabbing a 28-year-old man with a knife inside the factory around 4 p.m.
When police officers arrived at the scene, Oyama had already been detained by factory workers, police sources said. Authorities are investigating the motive of the attack.
The Asahi Shimbun daily quoted investigative sources as saying that the man in his 30s was connected to the factory.
He was wearing what appeared to be a gas mask, the newspaper and other media said. The Asahi daily also said that he was apparently armed with what it described as a survival knife.
The factory is located about 2.3 kilometers southeast of Mishima Station. It produces tires for passenger cars and had 987 workers as of December 2024, according to the company¡¯s webpage.
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