2nd LD Writethru: Egyptian man allegedly kills Japanese, injures two others in Ireland

DUBLIN, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian man was arrested after he was suspected to be involved in a stabbing incident that killed one Japanese and injured two others in the north of Ireland on Wednesday, said local police.

According to police, the incident first took place at about 9:00 a.m. local time when a 24-year-old Japanese man was stabbed to death on his way to work in Dundalk, an Irish small town.

Local police rushed to the site immediately after the incident was reported. The man was declared dead after the police reached the scene.

Shortly after this, two separate attacks in the nearby places were reported to police in which two men got attacked by someone with an iron bar.

The injuries received by the two men are believed to be not life threatening, said police.

In a search operation following the report of the three attacks, a man carrying two knives and a fencing post was disarmed and arrested by police.

Initial investigation showed that the attacker is an 18-year-old man from Egypt.

He entered Ireland and arrived at Dundalk on January 1 after he might have been refused in application for residence in Britain, said police, adding that the man had been in contact with police from the immigration section two days ago in relation to a possible application for residency in Ireland.

At a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, police officer Christy Mangan said that the attack appeared to be random and unprovoked and police have so far found nothing to suggest that the victims knew each other.

Police are trying to find out why the suspected attacker was in Dundalk and whom he was associating with, said Mangan, adding that police will speak to the Egyptian authorities regarding the young man's movements.

Police will not release further details about the killed Japanese until his family has been informed, he said. Enditem