Man rams car onto sidewalk in South Korea, then stabs people at shopping mall; at least 14 hurt

SEOUL —  A man rammed a car onto a sidewalk Thursday in South Korea, then stepped out of the vehicle and began stabbing people at a shopping mall. 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, said Yoon Sung-hyun, an official from the southern Gyeonggi provincial police department.

Authorities arrested a suspect in his 20s at the scene and were questioning him. Police did not identify the man or offer any immediate information about a potential motive.

The head of the National Police Agency described the attack as “virtually an act of terrorism.”

An official at Gyeonggi’s provincial fire department, Ha Dong-geun, said at least two of the wounded were hospitalized in serious condition.

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 tire could be seen on a sidewalk near the subway station.

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The Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper published a video on its website that it said was sent by a witness. The footage showed a man wearing sunglasses and a black hoodie walking up the mall’s escalator with an object in his hand.

A witness named Hwang Hee-woon told YTN television that he “heard a sound from the first floor that seemed like a scream, so customers and shop workers were gathering on the rails of the second floor near the escalator to see what was happening below.”

“Suddenly, someone told us the person who committed the crime was coming up to the second floor, so we ran away in panic,” he said, adding that he ended up hiding in a refrigerated storage room with some mall employees.

Last month, a knife-wielding man stabbed at least four pedestrians on a street in the capital, Seoul, killing one person, police said.

The National Police Agency held an online meeting Thursday with regional police chiefs to discuss ways to deal with stabbings and other attacks against random targets.

During the meeting, National Police Agency Commissioner Gen. Yoon Hee-keun made the comment about terrorism. Officials discussed increasing nighttime patrols in leisure districts and other crowded areas and strengthening security camera surveillance, according to the agency.