Man dressed as the Joker injures 17 in train knife rampage, 'sprays acid on passengers' and sets the carriage on fire - then calmly smokes a cigarette before being arrested by police

Footage has emerged on social media of the attacker dressed as the joker (pictured)  being arrested

Many passengers escaped through train windows (pictured) after the doors failed to open immediately when it stopped

Rescue workers (pictured) at the scene in Japan after a man dressed as the joker stabbed passengers

Police escort rescue staff (pictured) through the station

Firefighters leave the station (pictured) after a man dressed as the joker set fire to a train carriage in the wake of stabbing 10 people 

Pictured: Smoke could be seen billowing from one of the carriages where it a fire was started

Nippon Television reported that the suspect told police he used an earlier train stabbing case as an example. 

NHK said witnesses told police that the attacker was wearing a bright outfit - a green shirt, a blue suit and a purple coat which resembled that of the Joker from the Batman comics.

Tokyo police officials said the attack happened inside the Keio train near the Kokuryo station.

The attacker carried out the act without showing any emotion, a female passenger said.

'He held a knife and started spreading liquid,' she said.

'He was committing this act without showing any emotion, just mechanically. I think that brought fear to everyone.'

Kyodo reported that the suspect had told investigators he 'wanted to kill people and be given the death penalty'. He also told them he had spread lighter fluid in the train. 

Television footage showed a number of firefighters, police officials and paramedics rescuing the passengers, many of whom escaped through train windows.

In one video, passengers were running from another car, where flames were gushing.    

Fire crews and police are seen gathered outside the station 

NHK said the suspect, after stabbing passengers, poured a liquid resembling oil and set fire, which partially burned seats.

Shunsuke Kimura, who filmed the video, told NHK that he saw passengers desperately running and while he was trying to figure out what happened, he heard an explosive noise and saw smoke wafting.

He also jumped from a window but fell on the platform and hurt his shoulder.

'Train doors were closed and we had no idea what was happening, and we jumped from the windows,' Kimura said. 'It was horrifying.'

Firefighters explain the situation at Kokuryo Station on the Keio Line in the city of Chofu

An injured person (pictured) is carried from the scene by rescuers 

One video uploaded on Twitter showed a steady stream of people running away from a train car where, seconds later, a blaze lit up.

Another video showed passengers rushing to squeeze out of the train's windows and onto the platform where the train had made an emergency stop. 

'I thought it was a Halloween stunt,' one witness told the Yomiuri newspaper, recalling the moment he saw other passengers running in a panic towards his train car.

'Then, I saw a man walking this way, slowly waving a long knife.'

The witness described how there was blood on the knife, he said.

Firefighters (pictured) were seen at the station to put out the fire which spread through the carriage

Emergency services gather outside the station to help the injured