Man Dies In Shinkansen Suicide Blaze, Killing Woman, Hurting 26 Others

KANAGAWA, JAPAN - JUN. 30: A man died after setting himself on fire on a shinkansen bullet train Tuesday, and a female passenger in her 50s also died in the fire, which forced the train to make an emergency stop southwest of Tokyo, local firefighters and police said. In the worst-ever incident occurring on a shinkansen, known for its safety, a total of 26 other passengers were injured, including two seriously, among around 800 aboard, the firefighters said. The incident happened around 11:40 a.m., according to the police. A witness said the man poured oil on himself from a plastic container and set himself on fire with a lighter around the front end of car No. 1, investigators said. The police have launched investigations on the man, believed to be a 71-year-old from Tokyo's Suginami Ward, on a charge of arson. Before setting himself alight, the man offered to give a 1,000 yen note to a female passenger in the same car and told her to run, the police said, quoting the female passenger in her 60s. The female passenger told the police that after she declined to accept the 1,000 yen note, the man wandered around and started to pour oil over him. She said that when she turned back as she escaped, she saw the man burning, according to the police. The dead female passenger in her 50s, meanwhile, was found collapsed between cars No.1 and No.2. The train service on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line, which had left Tokyo Station, was bound for Shin-Osaka Station in western Japan.