Hospital patient kills two
A man distraught over his losing battle with cancer went on a stabbing spree at a Tokyo hospital, fatally slashing two fellow patients and wounding a nurse with a kitchen knife, police said.
Mitsuru Asami, 59, was arrested by police at Shirahigebashi Hospital, accusing his two victims of watching him too closely, a police spokesman said.
An 86-year-old man was stabbed in the chest and abdomen, and a 75-year-old man was stabbed in the throat and stomach, the spokesman added.
A 41-year-old female nurse was stabbed in the back and was in critical condition, he said.
The two killed were in the same ward with Asami and five other patients, who were unhurt. It’s not known how Asami obtained the eight-inch knife he used in the attack.
Asami told police that he became “desperate because I am suffering from an incurable ailment,” the spokesman said. Asami also told police that he was annoyed because the two patients killed were watching him closely, police said.
Asami told police that he suffers from a liver cancer and oesophagus cancer as well as hepatitis C, the spokesman said,
Shirahigebashi Hospital, established in 1937, has about 200 beds.
