Schoolgirl Stabbed to Death in Southwestern Japan

Fukuoka, Dec. 15 (Jiji Press)--Two junior high school students were stabbed with what appeared to be a knife by a man at a McDonald's hamburger shop in the city of Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Saturday night. 
 

The students were rushed to hospital, but one of them, a girl, was confirmed dead about one and a half hours later. The other victim, a boy, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is conscious.
 

The incident occurred around 8:25 p.m. Saturday. The attacker ran away from the McDonald's restaurant after stabbing the students, and the Fukuoka prefectural police department is searching for the man.
 

The girl, third grader Saaya Nakashima, 15, from Kitakyushu, and the boy, also 15, were stabbed once in the abdomen and the lower back, respectively, according to the police. Nakashima died due to blood loss.
 

The male student told the police that he was stabbed by a total stranger. It is not known if the female student was acquainted with the assailant, according to investigative sources.
 

The two students, from the same junior high school in Kitakyushu, entered the McDonald's store together shortly after 8 p.m. and were at the end of the line at the checkout counter to order. The unidentified man headed straight to the students and stabbed them without saying a word, and soon left the store.
 

According to security camera footage and other sources, it took only less than 30 seconds for the attacker to enter and exit the store.
 

The attacker is about 40 years old and some 170 centimeters tall, and was wearing a gray jacket, black pants and yellowish footwear. The man is believed to have fled to the north with the weapon he used in the assault.
 

The McDonald's restaurant, located along National Route 322 in Kitakyushu, is about 300 meters southwest of Tokuriki Kodan-mae Station of the Kitakyushu Urban Monorail line.
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