4 Killed, Over 20 injured in Taipei Subway Station Attack

World Today

Police blockade the scene of a stabbing incident at the Jiangzicui Station of the Taipei Metro in Taipei on May 21, 2014. A knife-wielding man went on a stabbing spree aboard a Taipei subway train on May 21, killing three people and wounding 25 others in the worst such incident on the island, police said. AFP PHOTO/ Mandy CHENG

TAIWAN, Taipei – A university student wielding a knife attacked riders aboard a subway train in Taipei City on Wednesday, killing four people and injuring at least 21 others, police and local media said. 

The seemingly random attack occurred at about 4pm at the start of the evening rush hour aboard a train on Taipei’s Banqiao line, which leads to the city’s southwestern suburbs.

Photos 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.

Security camera footage from inside the train showed a number of male passengers armed only with umbrellas pinning the assailant to the wall. A woman can be heard shouting “Go away!”


Pictures showed the attacker handcuffed sitting against a wall, his face covered in blood. He was dressed in white tennis shoes, black shorts and a red T-shirt.

Police said the man used a 10-centimetre (3-inch) knife in the attack, and was also carrying a second blade three times as long.

A spokesman said police were preparing to charge the suspect with murder.

Report compiled with information from South China Morning Post and The Associated Press.