Passengers aboard a train in the city of Taichung, Taiwan last week subdued a knife-wielding man who attacked several people, local authorities said.
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen told reporters last Tuesday that a 20-year-old suspect with a history of mental health issues allegedly traveled from the city of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan to the central city of Taichung.
While the train was nearing Taichung City Hall Station, the man attacked several people with a knife before a group of passengers aboard the train car “rushed” the suspect, grabbing his hair and striking him with umbrellas.
A witness aboard the train told reporters that the passengers subdued the suspect by grabbing his hands and arms to prevent him from using the knife.
Another witness said one of the passengers then disarmed the suspect.
Three passengers were injured in the attack and taken to a nearby hospital. The suspect was also injured during the fight to subdue him.
Some of the witnesses aboard the train criticized the city’s metro employees for being slow to respond to the attack.
One witness said he attempted to push the train’s emergency button several times without getting a response. He said the light on the emergency button didn’t even go on.
The knife attack occurred on the tenth anniversary of a similar knife attack on the Taipei metro in which four people were killed and more than 20 others were injured.
The suspect in the 2014 attack, Cheng Chieh, was sentenced to death and swiftly executed in 2016 after his sentence was fast-tracked by then-Justice Minister Luo Ying-shay.
Violent crime is rare in Taiwan.
According to the 2023 Global Peace Index, Taiwan ranked as the world’s 33rd most peaceful state out of 163 countries or territories listed.
