Man Dressed As 'The Joker' Stabs People On Train During Halloween, 17 Injured [Video]

A 24-year-old man has been arrested after he carried out a knife attack and started a fire inside a running train in Tokyo, Japan, over the weekend, authorities said, as many were heading to the city's center for Halloween.

The man, who identified himself as Kyota Hattori, was dressed in Batman’s Joker costume when he stabbed a 70-year-old man on a train operating on Tokyo's private Keio Line Sunday night, The Japan Times reported, citing authorities.

He also started a fire in one of the cars with cigarette lighter fluid, which burned a seat and filled the train with smoke, according to the newspaper.

Hattori brandished what looked like a kitchen knife and held a plastic bottle in his other hand as he walked through the train during the incident, investigative sources and eyewitnesses said.

"I thought it was a Halloween prank," said a male passenger, who was a meter away from Hattori and thought his knife looked like it was stained with fake blood.

The 10-car train originally bound for Shinjuku made an emergency stop at Kokuryo Station in Chofu, and the fire was put out about 30 minutes later after more than 40 firefighting vehicles were mobilized, according to the report.

People climbed out of the train's windows onto the platform after the doors failed to open when the train arrived at the station, photos and videos of the incident showed.

Footage taken by witnesses also showed Hattori, who wore a green and indigo suit, smoking a cigarette as he sat inside the stationary train.

Police later arrested Hattori on suspicion of attempted murder, a report by Japanese broadcaster NHK said. He did not resist being taken into custody and dropped his knife when authorities told him to do so.

Hattori admitted to spreading the lighter fluid. He was also quoted by investigators as saying he "wanted to kill people and be given the death penalty" and had aimed to murder two or more people, as per the Japan Times.

Additionally, he referenced a similar incident in August on another commuter train in Tokyo that saw a man stabbing and slashing 10 passengers amid heightened security for the Tokyo Olympics.

Hattori's elderly victim was in critical condition after he was stabbed in the chest. His 16 other victims, who included teens and people in their 60s, sustained minor injuries.

The conditions of the victims were unclear.