Car, knife attack injures 13 in South Korea

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A man rammed a car into pedestrians before stabbing several people, injuring at least 13, just south of the South Korean capital, Seoul, authorities said Thursday.

The police have not announced a potential motive in the Thursday evening attack in Seongnam city. National broadcaster KBS reported that authorities would investigate the mental health of the suspect, who was taken into custody.

Police Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun said authorities were treating the incident as an indiscriminate attack, Yonhap news agency reported. “Unlike traditional crimes driven by personal resentment,” he said, the apparent attack was “in effect, an act of terrorism in that anyone can become a victim.”

Police said they were interrogating a man in his 20s who was detained at the scene, and who had acted alone. Five people were hit by the vehicle, and nine others were stabbed, according to police. Three were in critical condition as of early Friday local time.

Officers cordoned off streets around the scene, and the police commissioner called an emergency meeting of city police chiefs after the incident, which unfolded near Seohyeon subway station and a large department store.

Last month, a rare stabbing attack killed one person and injured three others in Seoul.

Jintak Han contributed to this report.

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