TAIPEI: A knife-wielding attacker went on a stabbing spree aboard a Taipei subway train on Wednesday, killing four people and wounding 21 others, police said.

Cheng Chieh, a 21-year-old college student, was immediately arrested after the incident, the first fatal attack on the city’s subway system since it began operations in 1996, police said.

The police, who had earlier put the number of injured at 25, said 22 travellers were wounded and hospitalised. Half of the wounded were in a serious condition, they said.

Three people were initially reported to have died in the attack and a fourth victim, a 62-year-old woman, died later in hospital. The other three victims were a woman and two men.

The stabbing spree happened around 0800 GMT when the student, wearing a red T-shirt, began attacking travellers on a subway train outside Taipei, sending hundreds of people screaming and fleeing for help.

When the train pulled into the next station, Cheng fled and was chased by police before being kicked to the ground by a passenger and overwhelmed by security officials. Cheng spoke of his motives during police questioning.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2014