Tokyo, March 9 (IANS): Japanese police on Monday arrested a 40-year-old man suspected of murdering five people in Sumoto in Hyogo Prefecture, Efe news agency reported citing public broadcaster NHK.
The incident occurred early Monday morning (around 10 p.m. GMT on Sunday) when the man, Tatsuhiko Hirano, allegedly stabbed five people to death in a house near his own residence.
After police were alerted, they went to the house and arrested the suspect.
Three of the victims died at home, while two others were taken unconscious to hospital where they later succumbed to their wounds.
The man, whose clothes were covered in blood, refused to comment at the time of his arrest, police told Kyodo news agency.