[Breaking news update, posted at 2:50 a.m. ET]
Two people have died as a result of the fire aboard a bullet train in Japan on Tuesday, police said. One of the dead is a man who is believed to have started the fire by pouring a liquid over himself and setting it alight, said Kazuto Nara, a spokesman for police in Odawara, the city where the train made an emergency stop.
[Previous story, posted at 1:45 a.m. ET]
Two people were found unconscious and without a pulse after an apparent suicide attempt started a fire aboard a bullet train in Japan on Tuesday, authorities said.
The fire broke out in or near a toilet area on a train that was traveling from Tokyo to Osaka on Tuesday morning, forcing it to stop at Odawara City, southwest of Tokyo, said Ryo Iwasaki, a spokesman for the local fire department.
He described the two people found unconscious as being in “cardiac arrest,” a term Japanese authorities often use to describe people who are discovered without a heartbeat and not breathing but haven’t been declared dead by a doctor.
Two other people on the train were seriously injured and at least 20 suffered minor injuries from the blaze, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported, citing police.
Fire engines and ambulances rushed to the scene in Odawara, Iwasaki told CNN.
Video aired by NHK showed firefighters running down the side of the stationary train and passengers still inside talking on their phones.
The train service on the Tokaido Line between Tokyo and Osaka was suspended in both directions, the broadcaster reported.