Man dressed as Joker injures 17 in knife and fire attack on Tokyo train

The attacker is thought to have injured 17 people in the Halloween attack

A man dressed as the Joker for Halloween carried out a terrifying attack on a train full of commuters in Japan on Sunday (October 31), injuring 17 people as he stabbed civilians and set a fire in one of the cabins. As you can see in the video below, while the details of the caption have yet to be confirmed, the attacker can be seen casually smoking after carrying out the horrific crime. https://twitter.com/NewsForAllUK/status/1454824376528945158?s=20 The attack was carried out around 8pm local time (11am GMT) near Kokuryo station, located in the city's western suburbs. While it was initially thought that 10 people were injured, that figure is now believed to be closer to 17; according to AP news agency, an elderly man is thought to be in a serious condition following the stabbing. You can see footage of the frantic moments after the fire breaks out in one of the cabins. Warning: the following footage may cause distress https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1454817219259637760?s=20 Many of those on board the train were on their way to Halloween parties in costumes themselves so the attacker didn't necessarily look out of the ordinary in his green shirt and purple suit.

Japanese news outlet Kyodo claims he told police he "adored" the famous Batman character and the assault itself mirrors the infamous scene in the recent Joaquin Phoenix film where the eponymous Joker attacks and kills several men on the train

The Todd Phillips film sparked controversy at the time for fears that it might incite violence as a result of its anarchistic themes. During one scene in the movie, the character famously described "just want[ing] to watch the world burn"

Media outlets are reporting that the man was quickly arrested on the spot after passengers evacuated the train. His identity is not yet known, nor has there been any indication as to his wider motivations.