South Korean officials say one person has died and at least 14 others have been injured after a man drove a car onto a sidewalk before stabbing people inside a shopping mall in a town south of Seoul.
Police and firefighting officials said by telephone on Friday that a man aged in his 60s had died, at least nine people were stabbed and five others were injured by a vehicle in the city of Seongnam.
Two people were in critical conditions.
Police said Thursday's assailant was arrested after apparently attacking people randomly.
Media reports described him as a man in his 20s with a delivery job who was suffering from some mental health issues.
Witnesses told Yonhap News Agency the man wore black clothes and sunglasses while wielding a knife around 50 to 60 centimetres long.
At the taped-off scene, police stood guard and blood stains could be seen on the floor as forensic units examined the halls of the AK Plaza.
A white Kia hatchback with a broken front window and ruptured front tyre could be seen on a sidewalk near the Seohyeon subway station.
Panicked witnesses hide in fridge
A witness named Hwang Hee-woon told YTN television he heard screaming from the first floor of the mall.
"Customers and shop workers were gathering on the rails of the second-floor near the escalator to see what was happening below," he said.
"Suddenly, someone told us the person who committed the crime was coming up to the second floor, so we ran away in panic."
He hid inside a refrigerated storage room with some mall employees.
During a meeting on Thursday, General Yoon Hee-keun of the National Police Agency, described the attack as "virtually an act of terrorism".
Officials discussed increasing night-time patrols in leisure districts and other crowded areas and strengthening security camera surveillance.
Last month, a knife-wielding man stabbed at least four pedestrians on a street in the capital.
General Yoon Hee-keun warned South Koreans to be on guard for such attacks and urged officials to be vigilant and look out for copycat crimes.
AP/Reuters
Original article link: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-03/multiple-injured-in-south-korea-knife-car-attack-/102686776
