It was also reported hydrochloric acid was thrown during the attack, which occurred on the Keio express line bound for Shinjuku, the world's busiest rail station.

The Tokyo Fire Department said 17 passengers were injured, including three seriously.

Not all of them were stabbed and most of the injuries were not serious, officials added.

A man believed to be in his 60s was unconscious and in critical condition after being stabbed, according to media.

Nippon Television reported that the suspect told police he used an earlier train stabbing case as an example.

NHK said witnesses told police that the attacker was wearing a bright outfit - a green shirt, a blue suit and a purple coat which resembled that of the Joker from the Batman comics.

Tokyo police officials said the attack happened inside the Keio train near the Kokuryo station.

The attacker carried out the act without showing any emotion, a female passenger said.

'He held a knife and started spreading liquid,' she said.

'He was committing this act without showing any emotion, just mechanically. I think that brought fear to everyone.'

Kyodo reported that the suspect had told investigators he 'wanted to kill people and be given the death penalty'. He also told them he had spread lighter fluid in the train.

One video uploaded on Twitter showed a steady stream of people running away from a train car where, seconds later, a blaze lit up.

Another video showed passengers rushing to squeeze out of the train's windows and onto the platform where the train had made an emergency stop.

'I thought it was a Halloween stunt,' one witness told the Yomiuri newspaper, recalling the moment he saw other passengers running in a panic towards his train car.

'Then, I saw a man walking this way, slowly waving a long knife.'

The witness described how there was blood on the knife, he said.

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Is it really possible that these people don't get they're being trolled? Part of the joke of "Let's Go Brandon," of course, is that you couldn't go five minutes during the last administration without hearing someone in pearls or a bowtie screaming "Fuck Trump!" I don't remember Rangappa pumping out "Osama de Niro" tweets after this celebrated Tony Awards appearance:

The bigger part of the "Let's Go Brandon!" gag is that such outbursts during the Trump years were not only not condemned, they were celebrated, as pundits and reporters for the first time told us directly profane insults of presidents were okay. "Robert de Niro's Comments at the Tony Awards Go Viral," was CNN's bemused take, in a story quoting artist Ferrari Shepard saying, "Robert de Niro is my favorite rapper."

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