At least 19 people dead, 25 injured in knife attack in Japan

TOKYO, July 26 (KUNA) -- A knife-wielding man broke into a residence for people with mental disabilities in Sagamihara City, about 50 kilometers west of Tokyo, early Tuesday, stabbing to death at least 19 people and injuring 25 others, police said. The wounded were transported to nearby hospitals for treatment, with 20 of them seriously.
Police arrested 26-year-old Satoshi Uematsu, who turned himself in at a police station in the city shortly after the stabbing rampage at the Tsukui Yamayuri-En (Tsukui Lily Garden) facility, which occurred about 2:30 a.m. (1730 Monday GMT).
According to facility, the man had been working for the facility between December 2012 and February this year. He is currently unemployed and lives near the facility. Police said they are investigating the motive behind the attack, adding that the man carried three knives in a bag, with some of them bloodstained. "I wish disabled people would disappear," police quoted the man as saying.
According to the facility's official websites, the care home housed 149 people with disabilities aged between 18 and 75 as of the end of last month. It was established by the Kanagawa prefectural government and run by a social welfare service organization. The stabbing rampage is Japan's deadliest mass murder in decades. In 1995, members of a doomsday cult killed 12 and injured thousands in simultaneous attacks with sarin nerve gas on Tokyo's subway system. (end) mk.gta