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American Morning

Eight Children Die During Man's Rampage at Japanese Elementary School

Aired June 08, 2001 - 10:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Japan is dealing with its worst mass killing in six years and this time the victims are children. Authorities say at least eight youngsters were killed in a knife attack at an elementary school. Several others were injured.

CNN's Tokyo bureau chief Marina Kamimura has more on the deadly stabbing rampage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARINA KAMIMURA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The suspect barged into this school over a balcony during the morning break, officials say, lashing out at dozens of children as he made his way through four classrooms filled with first and second grade students. As the drama unfolded over national television, children could be seen dashing outside as anxious parents rushed to the exclusive elementary school located in a quiet residential neighborhood in western Japan.

Police arrested a 37-year-old former employee of another area school who confessed he was on drugs at the time of the attack. Local media say the man is currently seeing a psychiatrist and had been arrested before for allegedly drugging the tea of some former colleagues. The education ministry set up an emergency task force and promised to get to the bottom of the incident.

ATSUKO TOYAMA, JAPANESE EDUCATION MINISTER: This should never have happened and is most regrettable.

KAMIMURA: Terrified children described how the man systematically used a kitchen knife with a 15 centimeter or six inch long blade on their classmates and several teachers before he was subdued by two teachers and held until police arrived. This rampage by an intruder on an elementary school is unprecedented in modern Japan and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed shock at the fatal stabbings. While the motive for this attack is under investigation, violent crimes are on the rise in this country, still far better known for being one of the world's safest, something which sociologists are increasingly blaming on factors such as a decaying social fabric as Japanese society goes through some of its most wrenching changes in decades.

Marina Kamimura, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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