Authorities said at least 14 people were wounded in the country’s second mass stabbing in a month. At least five people were hurt by the car, and nine others were stabbed in the attacks that occurred in a crowded leisure district near a subway station in the city of Seongnam, according to Yoon Sung-hyun, an official from the southern Gyeonggi provincial police department. The head of the National Police Agency described the attack as “virtually an act of terrorism.” Police did not offer any immediate information about a potential motive or about the status of those who were hurt. Authorities were questioning an unidentified suspect in his 20s who was arrested at the scene.
Photos from the scene showed forensic units examining the halls of the AK Plaza, where the stabbings took place. A white Kia hatchback with a broken front window and ruptured front tyre could be seen on a sidewalk near the subway station. Last month, a knife-wielding man stabbed at least four pedestrians on a street in the capital, Seoul, killing one person, police said.