About 20 people were injured at a luxury shopping complex in central Tokyo on Monday after a man sprayed a substance inside the building, officials in Japan said.
A Tokyo police spokesperson said a man sprayed a substance at an ATM on the ground floor, while a local fire department official said “around 20 people were injured” after a report of a “smell”. The road in front of the mall – located in the touristy and upmarket shopping district of Ginza – was blocked off, and fire trucks lined the street. Shoppers continued to use side entrances.
An AFP reporter at the scene saw two people on stretchers being put into an ambulance, while firefighters and officials dressed in hazmat suits brought people from the mall into specialised trucks to examine them. The public broadcaster NHK said the injuries appeared to be light.
One 70-year-old woman who was at the mall told the broadcaster that her throat started “stinging and hurting” as she approached the ATM. “By the time I arrived, the commotion had already started, and I thought there might have been a small fire or something,” she said. “Once I went into the ATM corner, my throat felt scratchy, almost numb.” Police are investigating the cause, a fire department officer at the scene said.
