Japanese police today are looking for the perpetrator of an acid attack in the Tokyo subway that left two injured on Tuesday night, the same day as the opening of the Paralympic Games in the capital and despite the strong security measures deployed.
A 22-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman suffered burns caused by what Japanese police suspect was sulfuric acid at the Shirokane Takanawa subway station, located in a central residential neighborhood of the capital.
The man sustained injuries to his face and shoulder and the woman suffered burns on her legs in the attack that took place shortly after 9 p.m. Both victims were transported to a hospital and remained conscious, said the police.
The male suspect, about 175 cm tall, aged between 30 and 50, was dressed in black and wore a mask.
The subway operator and police said that the suspect threw the acid on as he walked past him from the right side. The woman received the burns after she slipped on the liquid on the floor and fell.
Both the victims were standing near an elevator in the subway station.
The metro operations were not stopped and the high-end neighborhood station was sealed but the attacker escaped as per the police.
This is the second attack incident this month. A random attack was staged by a knife-wielding man on an Odakyu Electric Railway commuter train in Tokyo earlier this month. 10 people were injured amid heightened security for the Tokyo Olympics.