Man with knife attacks schoolgirls in Japan. 3 believed dead

  A man carrying a knife in each hand and screaming “I will kill you” attacked schoolgirls waiting at a bus stop just outside Tokyo on Tuesday, wounding 19 people and leaving three dead, including the attacker, Japanese authorities and media said.

   After carrying out the attack, the man, described as being in his 50s, stabbed himself in the neck and subsequently died, officials told NHK national television. The attack took place in Noborito-Shinmachi town in Kawasaki City.

  The attack occurred during the busy early morning commute as workers headed to their offices and children to school. Fire department officials said they received the first emergency calls shortly before 8am local time.

   NHK, citing police, said that a bus driver told officials that a man holding a knife in each hand walked toward the bus and started slashing children. NHK also interviewed a witness who said he saw the suspect trying to force his way onto a bus.

The attacker’s identity and motives weren’t immediately known.

 One eyewitness told NHK: “I heard fire engines coming in the morning and I saw a man lying on the ground bleeding.

 “I saw many elementary school children lying on the ground near a school bus stop. School rucksacks were scattered all over the place.

 “There was another man lying on the ground bleeding at a municipal-run bus stop near the school’s bus stop,” the man added.