Policemen stand next to a car which plowed into pedestrians on New Year day in Tokyo, Japan, January 1, 2019.

TOKYO - At least eight people were injured, one seriously, when a vehicle plowed into crowds celebrating New Year's Day in Tokyo early on Tuesday.

A police spokesman said the driver had been detained and national broadcaster NHK said the man had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

He was identified as Kazuhiro Kusakabe, 21, from Osaka, a major city about 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Tokyo, NHK said.

NHK said the suspect had initially described the incident as an "act of terror" but later said the attack was in retaliation for capital punishment.

The incident happened shortly after midnight local time on Monday in the popular tourist area of Harajuku, near Meiji Shrine, in central Tokyo.

"I can't believe it, this is a place I'm familiar with, so it's very shocking," said Tatsuhiro Yaegashi, a 27-year-old worker in the area.

The street was closed to vehicles at the time of the incident to accommodate the large number of pedestrians making their way to the shrine for New Year's prayers.

TV pictures of the scene on Tuesday showed a gray coloured light vehicle used in the attack, positioned across the street. The front of the vehicle was badly damaged and dozens of police and rescue officials were at the scene.

The suspect fled from the scene and assaulted a passerby before he was captured 20 minutes later, NHK said. About 20 liters of kerosene were found in the vehicle.

"I learned about the incident later. But I shudder to think. If the incident had happened five minutes later, I would've been involved," a woman who walked past the scene shortly after the incident told NHK.

In a similar attack in 2008, a man who said he was tired of life drove a rental truck into a crowd of pedestrians in Tokyo before jumping out and stabbing several people. At least seven people were killed and a dozen injured. </s> TOKYO – Police said a car slammed into pedestrians on a street where people had gathered for New Year’s festivities in downtown Tokyo, injuring eight people.

Police took into custody a man in his 20s but did not further identify him. They say he is suspected of intentionally trying to kill people by driving the car through the street.

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NHK TV footage showed a small van with the entire front end smashed and officers and ambulance workers rushing to the scene.

The crash occurred early Tuesday on Takeshita Dori, well known to tourists and pop culture and fashion fans, that runs right by Meiji Shrine in Harajuku. </s> Nine people were hurt, one seriously, when a man deliberately ploughed his car into crowds celebrating New Year’s Eve along a famous Tokyo street, police and media said Tuesday.

With an “intent to murder”, 21-year-old Kazuhiro Kusakabe drove a small vehicle into Takeshita Street in Tokyo’s fashion district of Harajuku at 12.10am, a police spokesman said.

According to national broadcaster NHK, Kusakabe told police he was acting in “retribution for the death penalty” without giving more precise details.

NHK footage showed a small box vehicle with a smashed front and paramedics carrying people on stretchers into ambulances.

“It is a shock. Really scary, isn’t it?” one bystander told NHK.

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Police immediately cordoned off the street, which was packed with people celebrating the New Year.

One college student suffered serious injuries during the attack and was undergoing surgery, the police spokesman said.

Kusakabe was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said.

According to local media, Kusakabe hit a total of eight people and assaulted another on the street, which was closed to car traffic at the time as revellers packed the area to celebrate New Year.

Takeshita Street is packed with small shops and is considered the centre of youth culture and fashion in Japan, attracting tens of thousands of international tourists every day.

Unlike in other major cities, New Year in Tokyo is a relatively muted affair.

There is no major fireworks display and no central point where drunken revellers gather to see in the New Year.

Instead, Japanese people tend to see in the New Year with families and quietly go to the shrine to pray for good fortune in the year to come. </s> Tokyo -- A minivan slammed into pedestrians early Tuesday on a street where people had gathered for New Year's festivities in downtown Tokyo, injuring eight people, police said. The suspect, 21, Kazuhiro Kusakabe, was arrested and being questioned, Tokyo Metropolitan Police said on customary condition of anonymity.

He is suspected of intentionally trying to kill people by driving the small vehicle through the street. NHK TV footage showed a small van with the entire front end smashed and officers and ambulance workers rushing to the scene.

A ninth person was injured after Kusakabe got out of the car and punched him, police said. His condition was not immediately known.

A large tank filled with kerosene was found in the car, police said. The suspect appeared to have planned to set his car on fire, Mainichi newspaper and other Japanese media reported. Police declined to comment on the reports, saying such possible motives were still under investigation.

Investigative sources told the Japan Times that the man said he rammed his vehicle into the crowd "in retaliation for an execution." It was not immediately clear what he was referring to.

The crash occurred early Tuesday on Takeshita Dori, a road well known to tourists and pop culture and fashion fans that runs right by Meiji Shrine in Harajuku, Shibuya ward.

Every New Year's Eve, the train line that includes Harajuku station runs all night, for people welcoming the new year with a shrine visit.

Japan is a relatively crime free nation with strict gun-control laws. In 2008, a man drove his car into a crowd in the popular Akihabara electronic-shopping district, got off and went on a stabbing spree with a knife. Seven people were killed. </s> A man injured four people in Germany after driving into a group celebrating the new year, in what police described on Tuesday as an anti-migrant attack.

"The authorities think that this is a targeted attack, motivated by the driver's hostility to foreigners," said the Essen prosecutors office and Muenster police.

They also said they thought the 50-year-old suspect has mental health issues.

The man "clearly intended to kill foreigners," said North Rhine-Westphalia state interior minister Herbert Reul.

The incident took place a little after midnight in the town of Bottrop, about 12 kilometres (eight miles) north of Essen in Germany's west.

The driver first tried to run over a person, but they managed to get out of the way.

He then drove into a group setting off fireworks in the street, as many people do when celebrating the new year in Germany.

Four people were injured, some of them seriously, said police, adding that they were of Afghan and Syrian origin. The interior ministry said a woman was among the seriously wounded.

A little later, the driver attempted another attack in a town close to Essen, without managing to injure anyone.

He made "remarks hostile to foreigners" while being arrested by police, officials said.

There was a similar incident in Japan, where a man deliberately ploughed his car into crowds celebrating New Year's Eve along a famous Tokyo street, injuring nine people.

According to national broadcaster NHK, the man told police he was acting in "retribution for the death penalty" without giving more precise details. </s> A man injured four people in Germany after driving into a group celebrating the new year, in what police described on Tuesday as an anti-migrant attack.

 

 "The authorities think that this is a targeted attack, motivated by the driver's hostility to foreigners," said the Essen prosecutors office and Muenster police.

 

 They also said they thought the 50-year-old suspect has mental health issues.

 

 The man "clearly intended to kill foreigners," said North Rhine-Westphalia state interior minister Herbert Reul.

 

 The incident took place a little after midnight in the town of Bottrop, about 12 kilometres (eight miles) north of Essen in Germany's west.

 

 The driver first tried to run over a person, but they managed to get out of the way.

 

 He then drove into a group setting off fireworks in the street, as many people do when celebrating the new year in Germany.

 

 Four people were injured, some of them seriously, said police, adding that they were of Afghan and Syrian origin.

 

 The interior ministry said a woman was among the seriously wounded.

 

 A little later, the driver attempted another attack in a town close to Essen, without managing to injure anyone.

 

 He made "remarks hostile to foreigners" while being arrested by police, officials said.

 

 There was a similar incident in Japan, where a man deliberately ploughed his car into crowds celebrating New Year's Eve along a famous Tokyo street, injuring nine people.

 

 According to national broadcaster NHK, the man told police he was acting in "retribution for the death penalty" without giving more precise details. </s> At least nine people were injured, one seriously, when a car plowed into crowds celebrating New Year’s Eve in a central part of Tokyo, according to police.

The incident occurred on the well-known Takeshita Street in the shopping and tourist district of Harajuku, which runs parallel to the famous Meiji shrine. The road was closed to facilitate access to the shrine, which is a popular destination for people on New Year’s Eve.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police told CNN that they have opened an investigation into the incident, which occurred at around 10 minutes past midnight on January 1st. One person, a 21-year-old man, has been detained on suspicion of attempted murder, according to police.

The injured ranged in age from teenagers to those in their 50s. One male university student remains in critical condition.

The suspect, named as Kazuhiro Kusakabe, initially told police that he had conducted a terrorist act, later saying he had deliberately driven the car down the narrow street to protest his opposition to the death penalty, telling police he “would not make any excuse” for his actions.

The car barreled down the narrow street, which was packed with pedestrians, slamming into a number of them, police said. </s> Car Attacks In Japan And Germany Mar New Year's Celebrations

A dozen people have been injured in two separate car attacks, after authorities say motorists deliberately plowed through New Year's crowds celebrating in Germany and Japan just after the clock struck midnight.

In Western Germany, Münster Police say a 50-year-old man apparently set out on a rampage to kill foreigners in the first hour of 2019 in the city of Bottrop.

First he drove into a group of people who managed to leap out of the way, police said. He then headed toward the city center where he slammed his silver Mercedes into another group, injuring at least four. Syrian and Afghan nationals were among those seriously injured.

Next, the man drove to the nearby city of Essen where he tried and failed to hit people waiting at a bus stop, according to authorities. He was then placed under arrest, when police said he made "xenophobic remarks." Police said there are also signs the unidentified man is suffering from a mental illness.

And in Tokyo a 21-year-old man is under arrest after authorities say he deliberately slammed into revelers gathered in a bustling downtown district early Tuesday, hitting eight. A ninth person was hurt after the driver jumped out of his vehicle and punched him, reports The Associated Press.

The man fled on foot, but police found him shortly after in a park, according to The Japan Times. The newspaper reports the man told authorities that he had perpetrated the act "in retaliation for an execution."

It would not be the first time a vehicle was weaponized in Tokyo. In 2008, a man killed several people after driving into a crowd of pedestrians, before jumping out and stabbing people with a knife, Reuters reports.

Germany has also seen recent vehicle attacks.

In April, a van driver killed two and injured twenty after accelerating into a crowd in Münster, police said. And in 2016 in Berlin, 12 were killed and dozens were injured when a driver barreled his truck into a Christmas Market.

The worst such incident on record occurred in Nice, France, on Bastille Day, 2016, when a truck driver mowed down scores of people, killing more than 80. </s> TOKYO (AP) — A minivan slammed into pedestrians early Tuesday on a street where people had gathered for New Year’s festivities in downtown Tokyo, injuring eight people, police said. The suspect, 21, Kazuhiro Kusakabe, was…

TOKYO (AP) — A minivan slammed into pedestrians early Tuesday on a street where people had gathered for New Year’s festivities in downtown Tokyo, injuring eight people, police said.

The suspect, 21, Kazuhiro Kusakabe, was arrested and being questioned, Tokyo Metropolitan Police said on customary condition of anonymity.

He is suspected of intentionally trying to kill people by driving the small vehicle through the street. NHK TV footage showed a small van with the entire front end smashed and officers and ambulance workers rushing to the scene.

A ninth person was injured after Kusakabe got out of the car and punched him, police said. His condition was not immediately known.

A large tank filled with kerosene was found in the car, police said. The suspect appeared to have planned to set his car on fire, Mainichi newspaper and other Japanese media reported. Police declined to comment on the reports, saying such possible motives were still under investigation.

The crash occurred early Tuesday on Takeshita Dori, a road well known to tourists and pop culture and fashion fans that runs right by Meiji Shrine in Harajuku, Shibuya ward.

Every New Year’s Eve, the train line that includes Harajuku station runs all night, for people welcoming the new year with a shrine visit.

Japan is a relatively crime free nation with strict gun-control laws. In 2008, a man drove his car into a crowd in the popular Akihabara electronic-shopping district, got off and went on a stabbing spree with a knife. Seven people were killed.

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

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A car plows into New Year's celebrators in Tokyo, Japan, injuring eight. A ninth person was assaulted by the driver after he got out of the vehicle. Police believe the incident to be intentional.