Thirteen schoolgirls were stabbed as an attacker screamed 'I will kill you' during a fatal rampage in a Japanese city.
A knifeman stabbed the pupils, aged between six and seven, and three adults at a bus stop in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, according to reports.
One child and two adults died from their injuries, which include the suspect who killed himself by slashing his own neck.
Sources state that at least 16 people have been injured in the attack.
Most of the victims attended a school founded by Soeurs de la Charite de Quebec, an organisation of Catholic nuns in Quebec City in Canada.
A witness told the Mainichi newspaper that he heard children shrieking after walking past a bus, and when he turned around, he saw a man wielding a knife in each hand, screaming "I will kill you" and that several children were on the ground.
The suspect, believed to be in his 40s or 50s, was taken into custody however he has now died.
One eyewitness told NHK: “I heard fire engines coming in the morning and I saw a man lying on the ground bleeding.
“I saw many elementary school children lying on the ground near a school bus stop. School rucksacks were scattered all over the place.
“There was another man lying on the ground bleeding at a municipal-run bus stop near the school’s bus stop.
Another witness, Toshichika Ishii, 57, said he heard the attacker shout 'I’m going to kill you,' before stabbing the children, according to the New York Times.
It is believed the stabbing happened at a bus stop at around 7.45am local time [11.45pm GMT], when Japanese children would have been on their way to school.
The police reportedly found two knives in a nearby park.
Reuters reports that the suspect is believed to have started the rampage by stabbing people waiting at the bus stop.
US President Donald Trump, who is currently on the last day of his four-day tour of Japan, expressed sympathy for the victims of the attack.
He said: "On behalf of the First Lady and myself I want to take a moment to send our prayers and sympathy to the victims of the stabbing attack this morning in Tokyo.
"All Americans stand with the people of Japan and grieve for the victims and their families."
Mr Trump made the comments whilst on a tour of a Japanese navy ship at the Yokosuka naval base located south of Tokyo.
During Trump's state visit to Japan, he and First Lady Melania met the country's newly ascended Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako.
Trump has been pushing for a 'fairer' trade deal with Japan during meetings with Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
Violent crime is rare in Japan but there have periodically been high-profile incidents that have shocked the nation.
A stabbing spree on a school bus and a commuter bus in a Tokyo suburb in 2010 injured more than a dozen people.
Two years earlier, a 28-year-old man drove a truck into a crowded pedestrian crossing in Tokyo, killing three people, and then fatally stabbed four more.
