An 11-year-old girl is one of two people killed in a mass stabbing by a knife-wielding man at a bus stop near Tokyo, Japanese authorities have said.

Police said schoolgirl Hanako Kuribayashi, from Tokyo, and 39-year-old government employee Satoshi Oyama, a father of one of the students, were killed.

At least 16 people were wounded - most of them schoolgirls, a city official said.

The suspect, understood to be in his 50s, allegedly carried a knife in each hand and screamed "I will kill you" before attacking the group of children waiting at a bus stop in in Kawasaki city, south of the capital, on Tuesday.

He was unconscious when he was detained and died at the scene after reportedly stabbing himself in the neck, NHK TV in Japan said.


The schoolgirls, who were aged between six and 12 years old, were students at a private Catholic school and were waiting with their parents at a bus stop at around 7.45am.

Image: A knife-wielding man reportedly screamed 'I will kill you' before attacking commuters

Three of those injured were said to be in a serious condition, while the injuries of the other pupils were not thought to be life-threatening.

Police recovered two knives at the scene. The suspect's identify and motive for the attack are still unknown.

Witness Yasuko Atsukata said: "I heard a scream so I stopped and turned around to see what happened. It was not a normal tone of voice."

She added she saw a person collapse shortly before a second person also fell. "The colour of their white shirts turned red after they collapsed, then I understood they got stabbed."

One witness told NHK: "I heard screaming, then I saw a man standing with a knife in each hand. Then he crumbled to the ground."

Another told the Asahi newspaper the too saw the man shouting and around eight children on the ground near him.

Citing the police, NHK reported that a bus driver told officials that a man holding a knife in each hand walked toward the bus and started attacking the children.

Television footage showed emergency workers giving first aid to people inside an orange tent set up near the scene, and police and other officials carrying the injured to ambulances.

Image: Thirteen schoolgirls were hurt in the attack

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the attack was "extremely harrowing" and vowed to step up efforts to secure the safety of children on their way to and home from school.

He said: "It was an extremely harrowing incident in which many small children were victimised, and I feel strong resentment .. I will take all possible measures to protect the safety of children."

US President Donald Trump, who was in the country during an official visit to Japan with first lady Melania, offered his condolences to the victims.

Speaking shortly before he and his wife left, he said: "On behalf of the first lady and myself I want to take a moment to send our prayers and sympathy to the victims of the stabbing attack this morning in Tokyo.

"All Americans stand with the people of Japan and grieve for the victims and their families."

Mr Trump made the comments whilst on a tour of a Japanese navy ship at the Yokosuka naval base located south of Tokyo.

Image: Emergency services were alerted to the mass stabbing

Violent crime is extremely rare in Japan and the country has one of the lowest rates of crime in the developed world.

Occasional high-profile incidents have shocked the nation, with more than a dozen people injured in a 2010 stabbing spree on a school bus and a commuter bus in a Tokyo suburb.

Two years earlier, a 28-year-old man drove a truck into a crowded pedestrian crossing in Tokyo, killing three people, before before stabbing four others to death.