Knife attacker kills three after smoke bombing Taipei metro

[ad_1] At the least three folks have been killed and 9 others injured as a knife-wielding attacker went on a rampage within the Taiwanese capital Taipei.

The 27-year-old suspect set off smoke bombs at Taipei's primary metro station, earlier than operating to a different station in a busy purchasing district, stabbing folks alongside the best way, Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai stated.

The suspect, named by officers as Taiwanese man Chang Wen, later died after falling from a multi-storey constructing, Cho added. His motive stays unclear.

Assaults of this sort are uncommon in Taiwan, which has low charges of violent crime. The final time an analogous incident struck Taipei was greater than a decade in the past in 2014.

Friday's assault befell throughout the metropolis's night rush hour.

Movies shared on social media confirmed folks fleeing the scene in panic as a person carrying a baseball cap and black clothes lobbing smoke bombs throughout a busy street.

He can then be seen carrying a big knife as he walks previous vehicles.

Cho stated the suspect had detonated smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails at Taipei's Predominant Station, which is linked to a busy underground purchasing road.

A person reportedly tried to cease the attacker however was struck with a blunt object and later died in hospital.

The suspect then went to a different subway about 800m away, Zhongshan metro station, the place he set off extra smoke bombs and stabbed extra folks.

Cho stated he had ordered elevated safety at metro and railway stations, in addition to airports, in response to the assault.

"We are going to examine [the suspect's] background and related relationships to grasp his motives and decide if there are different linked components," Cho was quoted by information company Reuters as saying.

Taiwan's President William Lai additionally promised a swift investigation.

The final main incident of this sort, in 2014, noticed a person kill 4 folks on an underground practice in Taipei, stunning folks in Taiwan. The perpetrator of that assault was executed two years later.