Man arrested in Japan after suspected car attack on children: Reports
The driver, a 28-year-old man who lives in Tokyo, was arrested by Osaka authorities.
Police officers investigate the scene in Osaka's Nishinari district on May 1, 2025, after a man was arrested after allegedly ploughing his car into seven schoolchildren in a suspected deliberate attack, local media reported. (Photo: Jui Press via AFP)
TOKYO: A man was arrested in the Japanese city of Osaka on Thursday (May 1) after allegedly ploughing his car into seven schoolchildren in a suspected deliberate attack, local media said.
The children, who had been on their way home from school, were injured and rushed to hospital, but all seven remained conscious, according to public broadcaster NHK and other outlets.
Police could not immediately confirm the reports to AFP.
The driver was a 28-year-old man who lives in Tokyo, and Osaka police have held him on suspicion of attempted murder, the reports said, citing unidentified investigative sources.
NHK said the man admitted the charges to police and stated that he was "fed up with everything, so he rammed the car into them thinking to kill someone".
The car was "zigzagging" as it hit the children, with one girl "covered in blood and other kids suffering what appeared to be scratches", a witness told broadcaster Nippon TV.
The man was "wearing a surgical mask and looked like he was in shock" after he was dragged out by schoolteachers, Nippon TV quoted a witness as saying.
