Japan: Schoolgirl among two killed in mass stabbing in Kawasaki

A 12-year-old school girl and an adult man were killed while sixteen others, including over a dozen school children, sustained injuries after a man went on a stabbing rampage at a crowded bus stop in the Japanese city of Kawasaki on Tuesday morning.

Police said that the man suspected of carrying out the attack died from a self-inflicted wound. He is believed to be a resident of Kawasaki city, according to state broadcaster NHK.

They said a schoolgirl died and a 39-year old man succumbed to injuries in hospital. Sources close to the investigation said that this man was the father of one of the children at the scene. He was stabbed in the back by the attacker.

A witnessed reported that the suspect, who was holding a knife in each hand, began stabbing the school children as they waited to board a bus. Two knives have been reportedly found from the scene of the incident.

Another witness told NHK, "I heard the sound of lots of ambulances and I saw a man lying near a bus stop bleeding."

He said, "There is another bus stop near the primary school and I also saw schoolchildren lying on the ground. It is a quiet neighbourhood. It is scary to see this kind of thing happen."

Footage broadcast on local television channels showed multiple police cars, ambulances and fire engines at the scene of the incident. Emergency medical tents were put up to treat the wounded, reports Al Jazeera.

Japan is considered one of the world's safest developed countries. According to a report by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, the country has one of the world's lowest homicide rates.