At least eight dead in Osaka school rampage

A victim of the stabbing is delivered to an area hospital

TOKYO, Japan -- A man armed with a kitchen knife has forced his way into an elementary school in western Japan killing at least eight children and injuring dozens, authorities and news reports said.

Most of the victims were first- or second-grade students.

Police official Toshihiko Ajisaka said 26 children, including those who died, and three teachers were stabbed. He said the stabbings occurred shortly after classes began at the elementary school in Osaka, in western Japan.

Police said the attacker, a 37-year-old man who carried a kitchen knife with a six-inch blade, was arrested at the scene, but was also injured and taken to a local hospital. The attacker was identified as Mamoru Takuma.

Five of the dead were second-grade girls. The ages of the other victims were not known.

VIDEO Pictures from the scene of the tragedy Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    AUDIO CNN's Marina Kamimura with the latest on dramatic events in Osaka 1 MB/1 min 33 sec AIFF or WAV sound

The school's principal, Hisao Yoshiuchi, said details of the attack were sketchy. NHK reported that the attack occurred during a recess, when the attacker climbed into a first-grade classroom from a verandah and began slashing children in the back of the room and then in the hallway.

Motive unclear

Several children were slashed in their sides and arms as he moved into other classrooms, it said. School officials ordered the children on the school's playground after calling the police.

NHK said most of the victims appeared to have suffered minor injuries.

Schoolchildren are grouped outside after the attack

It was not immediately clear what motivated the attack, though NHK and other television networks reported that he may have been under the influence of drugs. Nearly 700 children attend the school.

"This kind of thing should never happen," said Education Minister Atsuko Toyama. "Schools should be places where children can feel safe and secure."

The mass stabbing is the latest in a recent surge of crimes in Japan.

A 7-year-old boy playing in a schoolyard in western Japan was fatally stabbed by a teen-age assailant in December 1999. In August last year, a teen-ager was arrested for stabbing to death three members of a neighbor's family.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.