Shinkansen suicide caused by gasoline: report

Police and firefighters said on Thursday that a man burned himself to death with gasoline on a running Shinkansen bullet train earlier this week.

The 71-year-old Haruo Hayashizaki set himself on fire Tuesday with a lighter after pouring gasoline over himself inside the train, which was traveling between Shin-Yokohama and Odawara stations in Kanagawa Prefecture, local media quoted police as saying.

The incident happened on Tuesday also led a woman in her 50s dead and 26 others injured.

The police also said Hayashizaki bought his ticket for the Shinkansen on Monday, adding to evidence he had planned his act, said Japan's Kyodo News Agency.

The police Wednesday searched his apartment in Tokyo's Suginimi Ward and took from his house a 20-liter metal container, a type often used to transport gasoline and kerosene, said the report.

According to the police, Hayashizaki tried to buy gasoline at a gas station near his home on Monday afternoon, saying his car had run out of fuel. But the station refused because he only brought a plastic container. The police are still investigating where he obtained the gasoline used for the fire. Endi