The Niigata Prefectural Police on Saturday obtained an arrest warrant for a man wanted in the fatal stabbing of a 20-year-old woman in a busy nightlife area in the city of Niigata.

Ryosuke Saito, 25, was placed on the nationwide wanted list after Yuzuki Ishizawa was found dead in a building near Niigata Station at around 9 p.m. on Friday. She was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital.

She worked at a drinking establishment there, according to witnesses and people working in the same building. Police said that there was likely to have been some kind of trouble between the two, who knew each other.

A 60-year-old man who was in a bar on the fourth floor said he was surprised by a police siren and went to investigate. As he descended the stairs, he saw a woman on the second-floor landing with rescue workers performing CPR on her.

The woman appeared unconscious, with her abdomen covered in blood, he said.

KEYWORDS Niigata, murder, stabbings, police