4 dead, 21 injured in Taipei subway attack

Four people have died and 21 were injured in a random attack in Taipei metro train on Wednesday afternoon.

The dead are two men and two women. All the injured have been sent to hospital.

A young man began to assault passengers with a knife of about 20 centimeters in a carriage at about 4:30 pm when the train was traveling from Longshan Temple to Jiangzicui. He then tried to run away, but was captured by police and is under interrogation.

The suspect, Cheng, 21, is a sophomore at Tunghai University. He confessed to police that he had planned the attack long time ago but only decided to commit the crime last week. The suspect showed no regret, police said.

It is still unclear whether the suspect has mental illness, police said.

It is the most severe case on the Taipei subway in the 18 years it has been in operation.

A female student on the platform at Jiangzicui station said that when the train pulled up, bloodied women ran out as soon as the door opened, shouting "a man inside with a knife attacking at random, don't go in!"

"I'm so scared, help me!" shouted another victim after police arrived on the scene.

As of 4:50 pm, the subway returned to normal operation.

Taipei subway sees about 1.8 million passengers on an average day, while only 135 police officers stationed there.

Police have increased patrols.

(Updated)