A man sprayed an unknown chemical inside a luxury shopping mall in Tokyo's Ginza district, injuring about 20 people. Authorities closed the area and dispatched a hazardous materials team to investigate, while police are probing the cause.
Chaos erupted at a high-end shopping mall in Tokyo’s Ginza district, a renowned luxury shopping and tourist area, after a man sprayed an unidentified chemical inside the building, resulting in over 20 injuries.
Yusuke Koide, spokesman for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, told AFP that the suspect sprayed some chemical near an ATM located on the building’s lower floor. Local firefighters reported receiving calls about a strong "unusual odor" that caused approximately 20 people at the scene to be injured.
After the incident, authorities immediately cordoned off the street in front of the mall, with dozens of fire trucks lined up along the road. However, shoppers were still able to enter and exit the building through side entrances as usual.
Local reporters witnessed two injured people being rushed on stretchers to hospitals. Firefighters and hazardous materials experts in protective gear escorted mall visitors onto special inspection trucks for preliminary medical checks. NHK television reported that most injuries were minor.
A 70-year-old woman at the scene recounted that as she approached the ATM area, she began to feel a severe "burning and sore throat." "When I arrived, the atmosphere was already chaotic. I thought there might have been a small fire or something similar. But as I stepped into the ATM zone, my throat started to burn, itch, and go numb," she said.
Though Japan traditionally has a low rate of violent crime due to some of the world's strictest gun control laws, recent years have seen a rise in stabbing and shooting incidents, including the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.
Additionally, last December, an assailant attacked people at a factory in central Japan, spraying a mysterious liquid on victims, injuring 14 individuals in that incident as well.
This recent chemical spraying incident deepens the traumatic memories for Japanese people of the March 20, 1995 tragedy when members of the doomsday cult "Aum Shinrikyo" released sarin gas—a deadly nerve agent—on Tokyo’s subway during rush hour, killing 14 and severely affecting over 5,800 others.
Japanese police and fire authorities are currently working urgently to identify the chemical substance and are investigating to find the perpetrator and determine the motive behind this attack.
,AFP