Nineteen people have been stabbed to death as they slept at a centre for disabled people in Japan's worst mass killing in decades.

Police arrested 26-year-old Satoshi Uematsu, who was a former employee at the facility, after he handed himself in.


The suspect had been involuntarily committed to hospital for two weeks earlier this year after he tried to present a letter to the speaker of the lower house of Japan's parliament, in which he expressed a willingness to kill disabled people if the government approved.

Image: Satoshi Uematsu handed himself in to police

At least 25 other residents of the centre in Sagamihara - about 20 miles southwest of Tokyo - were wounded during the attack, 20 of them seriously.

Authorities confirmed the victims were 10 women and nine men aged between 19 and 70.

:: Japan's History Of Disturbing Mass Killings

Staff at the Tsukui Yamayuri facility called police at around 2.30am on Tuesday after spotting a man armed with a knife in the grounds.

Officials said the attacker was held two hours later on suspicion of attempted murder and trespassing.

Image: The suspect reportedly told officers he wanted 'to get rid of the disabled'

Police recovered a bag containing several knives, at least one stained with blood, according to an official.

The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported the suspect told police: "I want to get rid of the disabled from this world."

NTV reported that the letter Uematsu allegedly wrote calling for euthanasia for disabled people said: "My goal is a world in which, in cases where it is difficult for the severely disabled to live at home and be socially active, they can be euthanised with the consent of their guardians."

The letter reportedly outlined an attack on two facilities and Uematsu apparently wrote he had the ability to kill 470 disabled people.

Yoshihide Suga, chief cabinet secretary, told a news conference: "This is a very heart-wrenching and shocking incident in which many innocent people became victims."

The Japan Times reported that some residents and staff may have been tied up during the attack. The newspaper said that hospitals reported many of the injured had wounds to their necks.

Japanese radio station NHK said the suspect broke into the building by smashing a window.

Officials said Uematsu worked at the centre between December 2012 and February this year and left for "personal reasons".

According to the centre's website, it holds a maximum of 160 people including staff.