THIS is the terrifying moment an “angry divorcee” flooded a packed tube carriage with petrol and then torched the place.
The suspect was bitter about his divorce settlement and took out his rage on innocent civilians in South Korea‘s capital Seoul, according to reports.
Flames and black smoke fill the carriage[/caption]
The suspect can be seen on a seat on the left having just sparked the blaze[/caption]
Passengers flee in terror as the man floods the train with petrol[/caption]
Shocking footage shows the man, identified only as Won, emptying a canister of clear liquid all over the floor of a subway carriage around 8:45am.
Panicked passengers leap from their seats and flee down the train as the fluid sloshes around their feet.
A pregnant woman slips over and loses a shoe in the chaos.
The man kneels down and sparks the fuel, and flames roar down the passageway.
Smoke and fire consumes the space – while the perpetrator stands back against the wall to watch.
Some 129 people needed first aid at the scene.
A further 23 were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation treatment, and six with injuries.
Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured.
The 67-year-old suspect has been charged with 160 counts of attempted murder – the number of people crammed into the carriage at the time.
He had allegedly planned out the attack, and chose the busiest time of day to strike.
Won targeted Line 5 of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway in South Korea.
The cost of the damage was estimated at over £160,000.
The public prosecutor’s office has released the CCTV footage of the attack.
The suspect fled the scene but was arrested by the police at Yeouinaru Station, according to local reports.
People cower at the far end at the moment the fire is lit[/caption]
An abandoned bag is consumed by the flames[/caption]
Prosecutors said the act was “tantamount to terrorism”.
They added that he carried out the mass attack to gain as much attention as possible.
According to officials, it was the passengers’ rapid evasive action and the installation of fire-resistant materials which prevented a more devastating tragedy unfolding.
Won remains in police custody as the investigation continues following the fire on May 31.
The attack had chilling echoes of a deliberate subway blaze in 2003 in South Korea’s Daegu.
A staggering 192 people were killed in that incident.
