Man sets himself alight on Japanese bullet train
Another passenger also died in suicide fire during trip to Osaka
Two passengers on a Japanese Shinkansen bullet train died after one doused himself in oil and set himself ablaze yesterday, media reports said.
The train, carrying about 1,000 passengers, made an emergency stop on its way from Tokyo to the western city of Osaka after smoke started to fill at least one carriage, fire department officials said. A fire department official confirmed that one man was dead.
Kyodo News agency, quoting a witness, identified him as the man who had covered himself with oil and set fire to himself.
There was no immediate indication of any possible motive for the man’s actions.
A female passenger also died, NHK public TV said, while at least one more was in serious condition and several others suffered less serious injuries, fire department officials said.
Filled with smoke
Most passengers went to other carriages after smoke began to fill the car, reports said.
An official at JR Tokai (Central Japan Railway Company), which operates the train, said at least one person was found at the entrance of a carriage covered in flammable liquid.
Footage on TBS television showed a train carriage filled with smoke and passengers evacuating with handkerchiefs pressed to their faces. One clutched a baby to their chest.
“We have been informed that there was a passenger in a car on the train who covered him or herself with oil and set it on fire,” a spokesman for operator JR Central said.
The Yomiuri Shimbun daily said a blast was heard from a toilet stall, with the emergency bell pressed soon afterward, which brought the train to a halt.
Media reported that the driver of the train found the stillburning body of a man after the emergency stop.