Passengers on a subway train in Taiwan's capital were attacked by a university student wielding a knife, leaving four people dead and more than 25 others injured, the Associated Press reported.
The seemingly random attack occurred at about 4 p.m. at the start of the evening rush hour aboard a train on Taipei's Banqiao line, which leads to the city's southwestern suburbs.
The 21-year-old student boarded the train at the Longshan Temple station, police said. At the next station, Jiangzicui, panicked passengers rushed out warning those on the platform to flee as well, BBC News reported.
"Everyone in the train was trying to run to the other side. No one tried to stop the criminal suspect," a woman injured in the attack told reporters at a local hospital. The woman, who was stabbed in the hand, would only give her surname, Yen.
Footage and photos of the tragic incident showed the floor of one of the train's cars and the adjacent station platform splattered with blood and strewn with backpacks, umbrellas and other items.
The police was immediately contacted by security guards. Arriving with minutes, the cops arrested the man and took him into custody.
The attacker was reportedly drunk and reeked of alcohol.
"Police said the man used a 3-inch knife in the attack, and was also carrying a second blade three times as long," the AP reported. "Although the suspect had been drinking, a breath analysis test showed he was below the legal limit."
Claiming that he had wanted to do something "shocking and big," the attacker told the police that he had plotted this attack from childhood.
No other motive was presently known and the suspect had no record of mental health problems, Chen said.
"He's aware of the legal responsibility of his crime," Chen said.
The attack is highly unusual for Taiwan, where violent incidents are rare, said the BBC's Cindy Sui in Taipei.
