Kawasaki, Japan (CNN)Two people, including a 11-year-old girl, were killed and17other children hurt in a stabbing spree in Japan on Tuesday — a rare act of public violence in a country considered one of the safest in the world.The attack took place near a park in the city of Kawasaki, about 13 miles (21 kilometers) from Tokyo, authorities said. The children were waiting for the bus to the nearby Caritas Elementary School, according to the school’s director Tetsuro Saito.Saito said that the students were standing in two lines when the school’s vice principal, Satoru Shitori, who was helping students get on the bus, witnessed a man holding two knives stabbing children one after another while running.Kawasaki Police said a total of 19 people were injured, including the two victims who died. Police have named the girl who was killed as Hanako Kuribayashi. Her age was previously given as 12 by a spokesperson at Nippon Medical School Musashi Kosugi Hospital.The adult male victim, 39-year-old Satoshi Oyama, was a father of a 1st grade student at Caritas Elementary School and a government employee. It is not clear if Oyama’s child was hurt in the incident.All 17 children who were stabbed were girls, most of whom were lower elementary students, according to Saito.”Innocent students who are raised with love by their parents (have fallen) victim to the pathetic incident. I’m suffering from an unfocused anger and from (the) deepest regret,” Saito said.The suspected attacker, 51, also died from a “self-inflicted wound,” Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. Police officers previously told NHK that the man had stabbed himself in the neck.Earlier Tuesday, Kawasaki police detained the perpetrator.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the attack was “heartbreaking.””We must keep our children safe at all costs,” Abe told reporters. “I’ve instructed the related ministers to take immediate action to ensure the children’s safety in going to and leaving school.”
Photos: In pictures: Japan stabbing spreeThe incident took place earlier in the day near Noborito Station in the eastern Japan city, with nearly 20 people, including elementary school students, victims of the attack.Hide Caption5 of 9
Photos: In pictures: Japan stabbing spreeA man wielding a knife attacked commuters waiting at a bus stop just outside Tokyo during Tuesday morning’s rush hour, Japanese authorities and media said.Hide Caption6 of 9
Photos: In pictures: Japan stabbing spreeAn ariel view shows an area near the scene of a stabbing spree by a man, thought to be in his 40s or 50s, in Kawasaki near Tokyo on Tuesday, May 28.Hide Caption7 of 9
Photos: In pictures: Japan stabbing spreePolice officers investigate the scene where a man wielding a knife attacked commuters on Tuesday, May 28, in Kawasaki, near Tokyo.Hide Caption8 of 9
Photos: In pictures: Japan stabbing spreeRescue workers at the scene of an attack in Kawasaki, near Tokyo on Tuesday, May 28.Hide Caption9 of 9
Photos: In pictures: Japan stabbing spreeRescuers work at the scene of an attack in Kawasaki, near Tokyo on Tuesday, May 28.