March 20, 1995: Poison Gas Wreaks Tokyo Subway Terror March 20, 1995: Poison Gas Wreaks Tokyo Subway Terror By Randy Alfred 03.20.09 A transit worker squats beside the body of a man felled by the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Photo: Tokyo Shimbun/Corbis 1995: Religious cultists release the toxic nerve gas sarin at multiple locations in the Tokyo subway. A dozen people will die, and thousands suffer injuries ranging from mild to severe. Aum Shinrikyo was a Japanese cult combining bits of Buddhism, Hinduism, shamanism and end-of-days Christianity. The name combined the Buddhist mantra om with the Japanese for "supreme truth." With a worldwide membership of 20,000 to 40,000 , Aum had a net worth in 1995 of about $1.5 billion. It made money through standard religious techniques like donations, tithing and paraphernalia sales. It also employed the New Age technique of high-priced indoctrination seminars.

In addition, it ran some businesses, including a restaurant chain and a computer factory that assembled Taiwanese electronic components into computers it sold at its own downtown Tokyo store. The cult also built a facility to manufacture biological and chemical weapons by the ton. Aum experimented with botulin toxin, anthrax, cholera, Q fever and the Ebola virus. Operatives tried to release botulin near the Diet in 1990, and near the imperial palace in 1993. An anthrax release from its Tokyo office building in 1993 caused foul smells, brown steam, pet deaths and stains on cars and sidewalks. None of these attacks is known to have caused death or injury. Things changed on June 27, 1994. Cult members drove a truck to a residential neighborhood in Matsumoto, about 200 miles northwest of Tokyo, then used a computer system to remotely release a cloud of sarin. Their primary targets were three judges who lived there and were about to rule against the cult in a big real estate case. Sarin was first created in Nazi Germany. The volatile nerve agent is 500 times more toxic than cyanide: A single pinhead-size drop can kill an adult.

The Matsumoto sarin attack killed seven people and injured 500, of whom 200 were admitted to hospitals at least overnight. Despite all that, Aum Shinrikyo managed to pull off its most audacious — and deadly — attack just nine months later. In the Monday morning rush hour of March 20, five cult members boarded different subway trains converging on central Tokyo. Four of them each carried two plastic bags loaded with sarin, and the fifth had three bags. At nearly the same moment, they each dropped the bags to the floor of the jam-packed train and punctured them with a specially sharpened umbrella tip. The cultists then quickly stepped off the trains as they pulled into the next station. Getaway drivers were waiting outside the station for each of them. The liquid began vaporizing, and people began getting sick. Some of them got off the trains at subsequent stations, stumbling onto the platforms. At each stop, more gas spread, and more liquid was tracked off the trains and into the stations. The deadly sarin vapor also clung to the clothes and bodies of its victims, sickening those who rushed to their aid.

Some of the trains continued traveling — one for an hour and 40 minutes — before finally stopping to deal with the emergency ... and stop spreading it. Emergency and hospital services later got heavily criticized for the uncoordinated response. Symptoms included bleeding from the nose and mouth, coma, convulsions, difficulty breathing, extreme sensitivity to light, flulike symptoms, foaming at the mouth, fevers, loss of consciousness, loss of memory, loss of vision, nausea, vomiting, paralysis, respiratory problems, seizures and uncontrollable trembling. Some survivors suffered these problems permanently, along with disturbed sleep, nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder. Many victims with initially mild symptoms went to work before sickening later and going to the hospital. Others probably never sought medical care. Estimates of the injured range from 3,800 up to 6,000. The sarin killed 12 people. Police began raiding cult buildings and property all over Japan within 48 hours, wearing hazmat equipment that had been issued to them for this purpose ... the week before the Tokyo attack. The cult had in fact gotten wind of an impending crackdown and unleashed its subway attack to kill police officers.

The Japanese government revoked Aum Shinrikyo's status a religion and seized as many of the cult's assets as it could find. Some members later reorganized on a much smaller scale as Aleph (the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and a key symbol in mathematical set theory). About 200 people were arrested. About 20 are either still in Japan's lengthy trial process standing trial or have already been convicted. At least eight Aum members, including the founder, have received death sentences for their roles in the attack. Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases, Japan 101 See Also: 1995: Aum Shinrikyo Tokyo Subway Gas Attack 1995: Aum Shinrikyo Tokyo Subway Gas Attack 1995: Aum Shinrikyo Tokyo Subway Gas Attack Terrorist Attack Profile: Chemical Terrorism, Religious Terrorism By Amy Zalman, Ph.D. Overview: In March 1995, Japanese religious cult Aum Shinrikyo released sarin nerve gas on a Tokyo subway. Tactic/Type: Bioterrorism Actor: Aum Shinrikyo (now known as Aleph). Where: Tokyo, Japan.

When: March, 1995. The Story: At 8:15 on the morning of March 20, 1995, three Tokyo subway lines were simultaneously permeated by a lethal gas called sarin. The gas had been placed on trains in liquid form, in bottles disguised as drink bottles, and in other similarly disguised packaging. Gas was released when the packages leaked. The effects of the attacks, which were launched from a number of points along the three lines, were felt immediately by the morning rush hour travelers: As trains pulled into stations, passengers staggered out onto the platforms and collapsed. Emergency workers set up tents outside subway stations, and passengers were carried out on stretchers and lay on the ground with bubbles coming from their mouths. In some cases blood poured from their noses. (New York Times, March 20, 1995) Nearly 5,000 people were treated for the attack, which injured hundreds and killed eight. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which completely terrorized Tokyo residents and baffled Japanese investigators. Shortly after the attack, Japanese authorities began carrying out raids on Aum Shinrikyo offices and its training compound, under the pretense of investigating a kidnapping.

In fact, though, the Japanese government was aware the group may have been working to create poison gas. Two years earlier,in 1993, a building owned by Aun Shinrikyo was observed by local villagers surrounded by a white smoke-like substance. In 1994, according to news reports later, " residents in a village called Kamiku Isshiki, where the group has a regional headquarters, complained of eye and nose irritation, and several months later, by-products of sarin were found in the village, which is in Yamanashi Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo" (Sheryl Wudunn, New York Times, March 22, 1995) The post-subway attack raids led authorities to several tons of chemicals, some of which could be used to create sarin, as well as gas masks and about $7 million in cash. One search also turned up 50 malnourished and dehydrated Aum Shinrikyo members, most of whom said they were fasting voluntarily and refused medical treatment. As investigations went on, increasing amounts and types of chemical ingredients were unearthed.

At one site, officials found fifty drums containing phosphorus trichloride, which is a required ingredient in sarin gas. Ultimately, it was estimated that Aum Shinrikyo had enough chemical materials to kill 4.2 million people. In the meantime, Aum Shinrikyo's leader had disappeared, leaving a trail of dire apocalyptic warnings of the end of the world (by 1997) behind. In May,1995, the authorities found him, meditating in a pink robe in a secret room between two floors in the Aum Shinrikyo headquarters at the foot of Mount Fuji, and arrested him. Tokyo subways are attacked with sarin gas - Mar 20, 1995 - HISTORY.com Tokyo subways are attacked with sarin gas Share this: Tokyo subways are attacked with sarin gas Author Tokyo subways are attacked with sarin gas URL Publisher A+E Networks Several packages of deadly sarin gas are set off in the Tokyo subway system killing twelve people and injuring over 5,000. Sarin gas was invented by the Nazis and is one of the most lethal nerve gases known to man.

Tokyo police quickly learned who had planted the chemical weapons and began tracking the terrorists down. Thousands of checkpoints were set up across the nation in the massive dragnet. The gas attack was instituted by the Aum Shinrikyo (which means Supreme Truth) cult. The Supreme Truth had thousands of followers all over Japan who believed in their doomsday prophecies. Because it claimed the personal assets of new cult members, the Supreme Truth had well over a billion dollars stashed away. Shoko Asahara, a forty-year-old blind man, was the leader of the cult. Asahara had long hair and a long beard, wore bright robes, and oftenmeditated while sittingon satin pillows. His books included claims that he was the second coming of Jesus Christ and that he had the ability to travel through time. Japanese authorities raided the Supreme Truth compounds across the country, but could not find Asahara. At one camp at the base of Mt. Fuji, police found tons of the chemicals used to produce sarin gas. They also found plans to buy nuclear weapons from the Russians.

The police eventually located Hideo Murai, one of the cult’s other top leaders, but when he was being taken into custody he was stabbed to death by an assassin who blamed Murai for the poison gas attack. Shortly after, the police found a hidden basement at the Mt. Fuji compound where other cult leaders were holed up, including Masami Tsuchiya, a chemist who admitted making the sarin gas. Still, Asahara remained at large and the Supreme Truth made four more gas attacks on the subways, injuring hundreds more. Another potential deadly chemical bomb was defused in a subway restroom.The nation’s top police officer was shot by a masked terrorist, adding to the country’s unrest. Finally on May 16, Asahara was found in yet another secret room of the Mt. Fuji compound and arrested. Along with scores of the other Supreme Truth leaders, Asahara was charged with murder. Their doomsday predictions had finally come true, albeit on a much smaller and more personal scale than they had envisioned.

Related Videos Tokyo Subway Attack (1995) - BioTerrorBible.com Tokyo Subway Attack (1995) PLOTS & PATSIES ‎ > ‎ Tokyo Subway Attack (1995) BIOTERRORBIBLE.COM: Despite the number of high-profile bio-terror plots and patsies, the historical record indicates that 99% of all bio-terror plots, attacks, “tests”, “accidents” and drills are conducted by the government who has the means, the motive and the opportunity. Title: Sarin Gas Attack On The Tokyo Subway Date: 2012 Source: Wikipedia Abstract: The Sarin attack on the Tokyo subway, usually referred to in the Japanese media as the Subway Sarin Incident , was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated by members of Aum Shinrikyo on March 20, 1995. In five coordinated attacks, the perpetrators released sarin on several lines of the Tokyo Metro , killing thirteen people, severely injuring fifty and causing temporary vision problems for nearly a thousand others. The attack was directed against trains passing through Kasumigaseki and Nagatachō , home to the Japanese government.

It is the most serious attack to occur in Japan since the end of World War II Background Aum Shinrikyo is the former name of a controversial group now known as Aleph . The Japanese police initially reported that the attack was the cult's way of hastening an apocalypse . The prosecution said that it was an attempt to bring down the government and install Shoko Asahara , the group's founder, as the "emperor" of Japan. Asahara's defense team claimed that certain senior members of the group independently planned the attack, but their motives for this were left unexplained. Aum Shinrikyo first began their attacks on June 27, 1994 in Matsumoto , Japan (see Matsumoto incident ). With the help of a converted refrigerator truck, members of the cult released a cloud of sarin which floated near the homes of judges who were overseeing a lawsuit concerning a real-estate dispute which was predicted to go against the cult. From this one event, 500 people were injured and seven people died. Main perpetrators Ten men were responsible for carrying out the attacks; five released the sarin, while the other five served as get-away drivers.

The teams were: Kenichi Hirose (広瀬 健一 Hirose Ken'ichi ? ) Koichi Kitamura (北村 浩一 Kitamura Kōichi ? ) Toru Toyoda (豊田 亨 Toyoda Tōru ? ) Katsuya Takahashi (高橋 克也 Takahashi Katsuya ? ) Masato Yokoyama (横山 真人 Yokoyama Masato ? ) Kiyotaka Tonozaki (外崎 清隆 Tonozaki Kiyotaka ? ) Yasuo Hayashi (林 泰男 Hayashi Yasuo ? ) Shigeo Sugimoto (杉本 繁郎 Sugimoto Shigeo ? Ikuo Hayashi Main article: Ikuo Hayashi Prior to joining Aum, Hayashi was a senior medical doctor with "an active 'front-line' track record" at the Ministry of Science and Technology . Himself the son of a doctor, Hayashi graduated from Keio University , one of Tokyo 's top schools.

He was a heart and artery specialist at Keio Hospital , which he left to become head of Circulatory Medicine at the National Sanatorium Hospital in Tokai, Ibaraki (north of Tokyo). In 1990, he resigned his job and left his family to join Aum in the monastic order Sangha, where he became one of Asahara's favorites and was appointed the group's Minister of Healing, as which he was responsible for administering a variety of "treatments" to Aum members, including sodium pentothal and electric shocks to those whose loyalty was suspect. These treatments resulted in several deaths. Hayashi was later sentenced to life imprisonment . Tomomitsu Niimi , who was his get-away driver, received the death sentence due to his involvement in other crimes perpetrated by Aum members. Kenichi Hirose Hirose was thirty years old at the time of the attacks. Holder of a postgraduate degree in Physics from prestigious Waseda University , Hirose became an important member of the group's Chemical Brigade in their Ministry of Science and Technology. He was also involved in the group's Automatic Light Weapon Development scheme. Hirose teamed up with Koichi Kitamura, who was his get-away driver.

After releasing the sarin, Hirose himself showed symptoms of sarin poisoning. He was able to inject himself with the antidote ( atropine sulphate ) and was rushed to the Aum-affiliated Shinrikyo Hospital in Nakano for treatment. However, medical personnel at the given hospital had not been given prior notice of the attack and were consequently clueless regarding what treatment Hirose needed. When Kitamura faced the fact that he had driven Hirose to the hospital in vain, he instead drove to Aum's headquarter in Shibuya where Ikuo Hayashi gave Hirose first aid. Hirose's appeal of his death sentence was rejected by the Tokyo High Court on Wednesday, July 28, 2003. The sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court of Japan on November 6, 2009. Kitamura was sentenced to life imprisonment. Toru Toyoda Toyoda was twenty-seven at the time of the attack. He studied Applied Physics at University of Tokyo 's Science Department and graduated with honors. He also holds a master's degree , and was about to begin doctoral studies when he joined Aum, where he belonged to the Chemical Brigade in their Ministry of Science and Technology.

Toyoda was sentenced to death. The appeal of his death sentence was rejected by the Tokyo High Court on Wednesday, July 28, 2003, and was upheld by the Supreme Court on November 6, 2009. Katsuya Takahashi was his get-away driver and is still at large. Masato Yokoyama Yokoyama was thirty-one at the time of the attack. He was a graduate in Applied Physics from Tokai University 's Engineering Department. He worked for an electronics firm for three years after graduation before leaving to join Aum, where he became Undersecretary at the group's Ministry of Science and Technology. He was also involved in their Automatic Light Weapons Manufacturing scheme. Yokoyama was sentenced to death in 1999. Kiyotaka Tonozaki , a high school graduate who joined the group in 1987, was a member of the group's Ministry of Construction, and served as Yokoyama's getaway driver . Tonozaki was sentenced to life imprisonment. Yasuo Hayashi Yasuo Hayashi was thirty-seven years old at the time of the attacks, and was the oldest person at the group's Ministry of Science and Technology.

He studied Artificial Intelligence at Kogakuin University ; after graduation he traveled to India where he studied yoga . He then became an Aum member, taking vows in 1988 and rising to the number three position in the group's Ministry of Science and Technology. Asahara had at one time suspected Hayashi of being a spy. The extra packet of sarin he carried was part of "ritual character test" set up by Asahara to prove his allegiance, according to the prosecution. Hayashi went on the run after the attacks; he was arrested twenty-one months later, one thousand miles from Tokyo on Ishigaki Island . He was later sentenced to death and has appealed. Shigeo Sugimoto was his get-away driver. His lawyers argued that he played only a minor role in the attack, but the argument was rejected, and he has been sentenced to death. Attack On Monday March 20, 1995, five members of Aum Shinrikyo launched a chemical attack on the Tokyo Metro , one of the world's busiest commuter transport systems, at the peak of the morning rush hour . The chemical agent used, liquid sarin , was contained in plastic bags which each team then wrapped in newspaper.

Each perpetrator carried two packets of sarin totaling approximately 900 millilitres of sarin, except Yasuo Hayashi, who carried three bags. Aum originally planned to spread the sarin as an aerosol but did not follow through with it. A single drop of sarin the size of a pinhead can kill an adult. Carrying their packets of sarin and umbrellas with sharpened tips, the perpetrators boarded their appointed trains. At prearranged stations, the sarin packets were dropped and punctured several times with the sharpened tip of the umbrellas. The men then got off the train and exited the station to meet his accomplice with a car. By leaving the punctured packets on the floor, the sarin was allowed to leak out into the train car and stations. This sarin affected passengers, subway workers, and those who came into contact with them. Sarin is the most volatile of the nerve agents, which means that it can quickly and easily evaporate from a liquid into a vapor and spread into the environment. People can be exposed to the vapor even if they do not come in contact with the liquid form of sarin. Because it evaporates so quickly, sarin presents an immediate but short-lived threat.

Chiyoda Line The team of Ikuo Hayashi and Tomomitsu Niimi were assigned to drop and puncture two sarin packets on the Chiyoda Line . Hayashi was the perpetrator and Niimi was his get-away driver. On the way to the station, Niimi purchased newspapers to wrap the sarin packets in—the Japan Communist Party 's Akahata and the Sōka Gakkai 's Seikyo Shimbun . Hayashi eventually chose to use Akahata. Wearing a surgical mask commonly worn by the Japanese during cold and flu season, Hayashi boarded the first car of southwest-bound 07:48 Chiyoda Line train number A725K. As the train approached Shin-Ochanomizu Station , the central business district in Chiyoda , he punctured one of his two bags of sarin, leaving the other untouched and exited the train at Shin-Ochanomizu. The train proceeded down the line with the punctured bag of sarin leaking until 4 stops later at Kasumigaseki Station . There, the bags were removed and eventually disposed of by station attendants, of whom two died.

The train continued on to the next station where it was completely stopped, evacuated and cleaned. There were a total of 2 deaths and 231 serious injuries from this attack. Marunouchi Line Ogikubo-Bound Two men, Kenichi Hirose and Koichi Kitamura, were assigned to release two sarin packets on the westbound Marunouchi Line destined for Ogikubo Station . The pair left Aum headquarters in Shibuya at 6:00 am and drove to Yotsuya Station . There Hirose boarded a westbound Marunouchi Line train, then changed to a northbound JR East Saikyō Line train at Shinjuku Station and got off at Ikebukuro Station . He then bought a sports tabloid to wrap the sarin packets in and boarded the second car of Marunouchi Line train A777. As he was about to release the sarin, however, Hirose believed the loud noises caused by the newspaper-wrapped packets had caught the attention of a schoolgirl . To avoid further suspicion, he got off the train at either Myogadani or Korakuen Station and moved to the third car instead of the second.

As the train approached Ochanomizu Station , Hirose dropped the packets to the floor, repeated an Aum mantra and punctured the sarin packets with so much force that he bent the tip of his sharpened umbrella. Both packets were successfully broken, and all 900 mL of sarin was released onto the floor of the train. Hirose then departed the train at Ochanomizu and left via Kitamura's car waiting outside the station. At Nakano-sakaue Station , 14 stops later, two severely injured passengers were carried out of the train car, while station attendant Sumio Nishimura removed the sarin packets (one of these two passengers would end up being the only fatality from this attack). The train continued on, however, with sarin still on the floor of the third car. Five stops later, at 8:38 am, the train reached Ogikubo Station , the end of the Marunouchi Line , all the while passengers boarding the train. The train continued eastbound until it was finally taken out of service at Shin-Kōenji Station two stops later. The entire ordeal resulted in one passenger's death with 358 being seriously injured.

Ikebukuro-Bound Masato Yokoyama and his driver Kiyotaka Tonozaki were assigned to release sarin on the Ikebukuro -bound Marunouchi Line. On the way to Shinjuku Station , Tonozaki stopped to allow Yokoyama to buy a copy of Nihon Keizai Shimbun , the paper he would use to wrap the two sarin packets. When they arrived at the station, Yokoyama put on a wig and fake glasses and boarded the fifth car of the Ikebukuro-bound 07:39 Marunouchi Line train number B801. As the train approached Yotsuya Station , Yokoyama began poking at the sarin packets. When the train reached the next station, he fled the scene with Tonozaki, leaving the sarin packets on the train car. The packets, however, were not fully punctured. During his drop, Yokoyama accidentally left one packet fully intact, while the other packet was only punctured once resulting in the sarin being released relatively slowly.

The train reached the end of the line, Ikebukuro, at 8:30 am where it would head back in the opposite direction. However, before it departed the train was evacuated and searched, but the searchers failed to discover the sarin packets. One passenger attributes this oversight to the fact that the search was conducted by a part-time employee instead of a full-time train assistant. Nevertheless, the train departed Ikebukuro Station at 8:32 am as the Shinjuku-bound A801. Passengers soon became ill and alerted station attendants of the sarin soaked newspapers at Kōrakuen Station . One station later, at Hongō-sanchōme , staff removed the sarin packets and mopped the floor, but the train continued on to Shinjuku. After arriving at 9:09 am, the train once again began to make its way back to Ikebukuro as the B901. The train was finally put out of service at Kokkai-gijidō-mae Station in Chiyoda at 9:27 am, one hour and forty minutes after Yokoyama punctured the sarin packet.

The attack resulted in no fatalities, but over 200 people were left in serious condition. Hibiya Line Tōbu Dōbutsu Kōen-Bound Toru Toyoda and his driver Katsuya Takahashi were assigned to release sarin on the northeast-bound Hibiya Line . The pair, with Takahashi driving, left Aum headquarters in Shibuya at 6:30 am. After purchasing a copy of Hochi Shimbun and wrapping his two sarin packets, Toyoda arrived at Naka-Meguro Station where he boarded the first car of northeast-bound 07:59 Hibiya Line train number B711T. Sitting close to the door, he set the sarin packets on the floor. When the train arrived at the next station, Ebisu , Toyoda punctured the packets and got off the train. He was on the train for a total of two minutes, by far the quickest sarin drop out of the five attacks that day. Two stops later, at Roppongi Station , passengers in the train's first car began to feel the effects of the sarin and began to open the windows.

By Kamiyacho Station , the next stop, the passengers in the car had begun panicking. The first car was evacuated and several passengers were immediately taken to a hospital. Still, with the first car empty the train continued down the line for one more stop until it was completely evacuated at Kasumigaseki Station . This attack killed one person and seriously injured 532 others. Naka-Meguro-Bound Yasuo Hayashi and Shigeo Sugimoto were the team assigned to drop sarin on the southwest-bound Hibiya Line departing Kita-Senju Station for Naka-Meguro Station . Unlike the rest of the attacks, Hayashi carried three sarin packets onto the train instead of two. Prior to the attack, Hayashi asked to carry a flawed leftover packet in addition to the two others in an apparent bid to allay suspicions and prove his loyalty to the group. After Sugimoto escorted him to Ueno Station , Hayashi boarded the third car of southwest-bound 07:43 Hibiya Line train number A720S and dropped his sarin packets to the floor.

Two stops later, at Akihabara Station , he punctured the packets, left the train and arrived back at Aum headquarters with Sugimoto by 8:30 am. Hayashi made the most punctures of any of the perpetrators. By the next stop, passengers in the third car began to feel effects from the sarin. Noticing the large, liquid soaked package on the floor and assuming it was the culprit, one passenger kicked the sarin packets out of the train and onto Kodenmachō Station 's subway platform. Four people in the station died as a result. A puddle of sarin, however, remained on the floor of the passenger car as the train continued to the next station. At 8:10 am, after the train pulled out of Hatchōbori Station , a passenger in the third car pressed the emergency stop button. The train was in a tunnel at the time, and was forced to proceed to Tsukiji Station where passengers stumbled out and collapsed on the station's platform and the train was taken out of service. The attack was originally believed to be an explosion and was thus labeled as such in media reports.

Eventually, station attendants realized that the attack was not an explosion, but rather a chemical attack. At 8:35 am, the Hibiya Line was completely shut down and all commuters were evacuated. Between the five stations affected in this attack, 8 people died and 275 were seriously injured. Aftermath On the day of the attack, ambulances transported 688 patients and nearly five thousand people reached hospitals by other means. Hospitals saw 5,510 patients, seventeen of whom were deemed critical, thirty-seven severe and 984 moderately ill with vision problems. Most of those reporting to hospitals were the "worried well," who had to be distinguished from those who were ill. By mid-afternoon, the mildly affected victims had recovered from vision problems and were released from hospital. Most of the remaining patients were well enough to go home the following day, and within a week only a few critical patients remained in hospital. The death toll on the day of the attack was eight that eventually rose to at least a dozen. The Injured Witnesses have said that subway entrances resembled battlefields.

In many cases, the injured simply lay on the ground, many with breathing difficulties.[ citation needed ] Several of those affected by sarin went to work in spite of their symptoms, most of them not realizing that they had been exposed to sarin. Most of the victims sought medical treatment as the symptoms worsened and as they learned of the actual circumstances of the attacks via news broadcasts. Several of those affected were exposed to sarin only by helping those who had been directly exposed. Among these were passengers on other trains, subway workers and health care workers. A 2008 law enacted by the Japanese government authorized payments of damages to victims of the gas attack, because the attack was directed at the government of Japan. As of December 2009, 5,259 people have applied for benefits under the law. Of those, 47 out of 70 have been certified as disabled and 1,077 of 1,163 applications for serious injuries or illnesses have been certified. Surveys of the victims (in 1998 and 2001) showed that many were still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

In one survey, twenty percent of 837 respondents complained that they felt insecure whenever riding a train, while ten percent answered that they tried to avoid any nerve-attack related news. Over sixty percent reported chronic eyestrain and said their vision had worsened. Emergency Services Emergency services including police, fire and ambulance services were criticised for their handling of the attack and the injured, as were the media (some of whom, though present at subway entrances and filming the injured, hesitated when asked to transport victims to the hospital) and the Subway Authority, which failed to halt several of the trains despite reports of passenger injury. Health services including hospitals and health staff were also criticised: one hospital refused to admit a victim for almost an hour, and many hospitals turned victims away. Sarin poisoning was not well known at the time, and many hospitals only received information on diagnosis and treatment because a professor at Shinshu University 's school of medicine happened to see reports on television. Dr. Nobuo Yanagisawa had experience with treating sarin poisoning after the Matsumoto incident ; he recognized the symptoms, had information on diagnosis and treatment collected, and led a team who sent the information to hospitals throughout Tokyo via fax. St.

Luke's Hospital at Tsukiji was one of very few hospitals in Tokyo at that time to have the entire building wired and piped for conversion into a "Field Hospital" in the event of a major disaster. This proved to be a very fortunate coincidence as the hospital was able to take in most of the 600+ victims at Tsukiji station, resulting in no fatalities at that station. As there was a severe shortage of antidotes in Tokyo, sarin antidote stored in rural hospitals as an antidote for herbicide/insecticide poisoning were delivered to nearby Shinkansen stations, where it was collected by a Ministry of Health official on a train bound for Tokyo. Defended by New Religions Scholars In May 1995, after the sarin attack on the Tokyo subway, American scholars James R. Lewis and J. Gordon Melton flew to Japan to hold a pair of press conferences in which they announced that the chief suspect in the murders, religious group Aum Shinrikyo , couldn't have produced the sarin that the attacks had been committed with. They had determined this, Lewis said, from photos and documents provided by the group.

However, the Japanese police had already discovered at Aum's main compound back in March a sophisticated chemical weapons laboratory that was capable of producing thousands of kilograms a year of the poison. Later investigation showed that Aum not only created the sarin used in the subway attacks, but had committed previous chemical and biological weapons attacks, including a previous attack with sarin that had killed eight and injured 144. During the Aum Shinrikyo incident Lewis and Melton's bills for travel, lodging and accommodations were paid for by Aum, according to The Washington Post . Lewis openly disclosed that "Aum [...] arranged to provide all expenses [for the trip] ahead of time", but claimed that this was "so that financial considerations would not be attached to our final report". Murakami Book Popular contemporary novelist Haruki Murakami wrote Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche (1997). He was critical of the Japanese media for focusing on the sensational profiles of the attackers and ignoring the lives of the victimized average citizens. The book contains extensive interviews with the survivors in order to tell their stories.

Murakami would later add a second part to the work, The Place That Was Promised, which focuses on Aum Shinrikyo. Aum/Aleph Today Main article: Aum_Shinrikyo#Current_activities The sarin attack was the most serious terrorist attack in Japan's modern history. It caused massive disruption and widespread fear in a society that had previously been perceived as virtually free of crime. Shortly after the attack, Aum lost its status as a religious organization, and many of its assets were seized. However, the Diet (Japanese parliament) rejected a request from government officials to outlaw the group. The National Public Safety Commission received increased funding to monitor the group. In 1999, the Diet gave the commission broad powers to monitor and curtail the activities of groups that have been involved in "indiscriminate mass murder" and whose leaders are "holding strong sway over their members", a bill custom-tailored to Aum Shinrikyo. Asahara was sentenced to death by hanging on February 27, 2004, but lawyers immediately appealed the ruling.

The Tokyo High Court postponed its decision on the appeal until results were obtained from a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, which was issued to determine whether Asahara was fit to stand trial. In February 2006, the court ruled that Asahara was indeed fit to stand trial, and on March 27, rejected the appeal against his death sentence. Japan's Supreme Court upheld this decision on September 15, 2006. (Japan does not announce dates of executions, which are by hanging, in advance of them being carried out.) On November 21, all the Aum trials concluded as the death sentence of Seiiichi Endo was upheld by Japan's Supreme Court. As a result, among a total of 189 members indicted, 13 were sentenced to death, five were sentenced to life in prison, 80 were given prison sentences of various lengths, 87 were received suspended sentences, two were fined, and one was found not guilty. The group reportedly still has about 2,100 members, and continues to recruit new members under the name "Aleph" as well as other names.

Though the group has renounced its violent past, it still continues to follow Asahara's spiritual teachings. Members operate several businesses, though boycotts of known Aleph-related businesses, in addition to searches, confiscations of possible evidence and picketing by protest groups, have resulted in closures (Wikipedia, 2012) . Title: Last Death Sentence Upheld In 1995 Tokyo Subway Gas Attack Date: December 13, 2011 Sarin Gas Attack in Tokyo Subway Sarin Gas Attack in Tokyo Subway Sarin Gas Attack in Tokyo Subway The Deadliest Terrorist Attack in Japan Tokyo, Japan metro train at platform. (Photo by Raymond Patrick / Getty Images) Share By Jennifer Rosenberg On March 20, 1995, members of the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult orchestrated a coordinated sarin gas attack on subway trains in Tokyo, Japan. The sarin gas killed a dozen people, injured thousands more, and is still considered the worst terrorist attack in Japan. The Sarin Gas Attack in Tokyo On Monday, March 20, 1995, five members of the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult boarded separate subway trains in Tokyo.

Each cult member carried either two or three bags of sarin in liquid form, tightly enclosed in plastic, and then wrapped in newspapers. Each also carried an umbrella. Around 8 a.m., the cult members dropped their packages onto the floor of the trains, then used the sharp end of their umbrellas to puncture holes through the plastic. As the liquid poured out of the holes, it seeped onto the train floors and started to turn into toxic sarin gas. The cult members then exited their subway trains and were picked up in pre-arranged get-away cars, leaving the sarin gas, estimated to be 500 times more potent than cyanide gas, to dissipate among the passengers that remained in the subway. continue reading below our video 10 Best Universities in the United States Subway Passengers Get Sick The Tokyo subway system, the busiest in the world, was packed with commuters during rush hour traffic. As the sarin gas spread, people on the trains started to become sick. At first, passengers suffered from runny noses and watery eyes. Then blurred vision and coughing.

However, not realizing that they had been exposed to sarin gas because it is odorless, many passengers stepped off the subway trains at the next train station, unaware they were helping to spread the toxic gas. Since sarin gas can cling to clothes for up to 30 minutes, these passengers spread the toxic gas throughout a number of train stations. The train engineers also did not immediately realize a toxic gas had been released on their cars; thus, many of the trains continued on to station after station. At each stop, the sarin gas poured from the trains' open doors and into the stations. The sarin gas spread to thousands of people within Tokyo's subway system. Some were lucky enough to receive only light exposure and thus suffer only from runny noses, watery eyes, blurred vision, coughing, rapid breathing, confusion, drowsiness, weakness, and headache. Others suffered from vomiting and diarrhea. Still others became paralyzed, began convulsing, went into a coma, or died. While over 5,000 people were affected, twelve died from exposure. Many victims suffered long-term effects that still haunt them.

Aum Shinrikyo: The Perpetrators In 1995, the religious cult of Aum Shinrikyo ("Supreme Truth") had approximately 40,000 members and a net worth of $1.5 billion. Founded in 1987 by Shoko Asahara, it had its basis in Buddhism, but had grown to include the Christian idea of an apocalypse in its beliefs. Believing World War III was about to begin, Aum Shinrikyo began to stockpile weapons, even building several chemical factories to manufacture biological weapons. Much of their angst was focused against the Japanese government. The March 1995 sarin attack was not the first use of biological weapons by the Aum Shinrikyo. In addition to several other unsuccessful attempts, the group is believed to have been behind a June 27, 1994 attack in the Japanese city of Matsumoto. During this attack, the group used a truck to release sarin gas into a neighborhood that housed three judges who were expected to rule against them in a court case. The attack left seven dead and about 500 more affected.

Unfortunately, because of the Aum Shinrikyo's protected religious status, the police were unable to arrest any of its members in 1994. Not so after the 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo. Within 48 hours of the 1995 sarin gas attack, police raided multiple locations of the Aum Shinrikyo cult. About 100 Aum Shinrikyo members were arrested. After a number of trials, thirteen Aum Shinrikyo members were sentenced to death, including the group's leader Shoko Asahara. However, by 2010, none of these death sentences had yet been carried out. On This Day: Aum Shinrikyo Cult Releases Nerve Gas on Tokyo Subway On This Day: Aum Shinrikyo Cult Releases Nerve Gas on Tokyo Subway March 20, 2011 06:00 AM by findingDulcinea Staff On March 20, 1995, members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released poisonous sarin gas on five Tokyo subway trains, killing 12 and injuring thousands.

Poisonous Gas Attack Kills 12 During the morning rush hour, five members of the Aum Shinrikyo apocalyptic cult boarded commuter trains headed for the center of Tokyo . Each attacker carried two or three plastic bags of liquid sarin that were wrapped in newspaper. The perpetrators set the packages down, punctured them with umbrella points, and then rushed out to waiting getaway cars. Reports of subway injuries began at around 8:15 in the morning. Commuters piled out of trains, struggling to breathe, collapsing and bleeding from their noses and mouths . The New York Times reported, “As trains pulled into stations, passengers staggered out onto the platforms and collapsed. Emergency workers set up tents outside subway stations, and passengers were carried out on stretchers and lay on the ground with bubbles coming from their mouths. In some cases blood poured from their noses.” The Japanese authorities said the gas attacks affected about 15 different subway stations. “This is a case of organized and indiscriminate murder,” Masahiro Terao, a senior police official, said at a hastily called news conference. Twelve people were killed that day and another man died the following day.

The number of injured has been estimated as high as 5,000, and a recent police survey has raised the number to over 6,200 people. The attack “ showed the world just how easy it is for a small cult or group of terrorists with limited means to engage in chemical warfare,” says the Council on Foreign Relations. “It illustrated that groups not affiliated with rogue states posed a great national security risk.” Haruki Murakami’s book “Underground” collects interviews with survivors, the victims' relatives and the cultists responsible for the day’s terrible events. Council on Foreign Relations: Sarin Aum Shinrikyo, meaning “Supreme Truth,” was founded in the 1980s by Matsumoto Chizuo , who became known to his followers as Shoko Asahara. It began as a yoga class taught by the half-blind Asahara, who combined Buddhist, Hindu and Christian teachings and preached that the end of the world was near. By 1995, the cult had an estimated 10,000 members in Japan and 65,000 members worldwide.

In 1989, a lawyer who was threatening to expose the cult was murdered by Aum Shinrikyo followers. In the early ‘90s, Aum Shinrikyo began developing chemical weapons ; between 1990 and 1995, it carried out 10 chemical attacks and seven biological attacks “with motivation ranging from assassination to mass murder,” according to the Monterey WMD Terrorism Database. The cult’s criminal actions would not be uncovered until the 1995 Tokyo attack, though authorities had been alerted in 1993 that there was a smell of toxic gas around the Aum Shinrikyo compound . In June 1994, a cloud of sarin gas from the compound killed seven people and injured hundreds of others; the police and media, however, suspected that the man who first called authorities about the cloud was the culprit. After the Tokyo attack, authorities cracked down on the cult. They arrested Asahara and hundreds of other leaders, seized cult property, and stripped it of its religious recognition. Asahara and about a dozen other cult members have been sentenced to death , though none have been executed yet.

Japan has not outlawed the Aum Shinrikyo sect, but authorities closely monitor it. The sect, which changed its name to Aleph , formally apologized for the attack in 2000 and says that none of its current members were “directly involved in the incidents.” March 20, 1995: Poison Gas Wreaks Tokyo Subway Terror | WIRED March 20, 1995: Poison Gas Wreaks Tokyo Subway Terror subscribe 6 months for $5 - plus a FREE Portable Phone Charger. On Twitter 11 hours A comedy about the apocalypse—penned by @neilhimself —is slated for 2018. So there's that to look forward to at least bit.ly/2jcWNvp Author: Randy Alfred. Randy Alfred Date of Publication: 03.20.09. Time of Publication: 12:00 am. 12:00 am March 20, 1995: Poison Gas Wreaks Tokyo Subway Terror 1995: Religious cultists release the toxic nerve gas sarin at multiple locations in the Tokyo subway.

A dozen people will die, and thousands suffer injuries ranging from mild to severe. Aum Shinrikyo was a Japanese cult combining bits of Buddhism, Hinduism, shamanism and end-of-days Christianity. The name combined the Buddhist mantra om with the Japanese for “supreme truth.” With a worldwide membership of 20,000 to 40,000, Aum had a net worth in 1995 of about $1.5 billion. It made money through standard religious techniques like donations, tithing and paraphernalia sales. It also employed the New Age technique of high-priced indoctrination seminars. In addition, it ran some businesses, including a restaurant chain and a computer factory that assembled Taiwanese electronic components into computers it sold at its own downtown Tokyo store. The cult also built a facility to manufacture biological and chemical weapons by the ton. Aum experimented with botulin toxin, anthrax, cholera, Q fever and the Ebola virus. Operatives tried to release botulin near the Diet in 1990, and near the imperial palace in 1993.

An anthrax release from its Tokyo office building in 1993 caused foul smells, brown steam, pet deaths and stains on cars and sidewalks. None of these attacks is known to have caused death or injury. Things changed on June 27, 1994. Cult members drove a truck to a residential neighborhood in Matsumoto, about 200 miles northwest of Tokyo, then used a computer system to remotely release a cloud of sarin. Their primary targets were three judges who lived there and were about to rule against the cult in a big real estate case. Sarin was first created in Nazi Germany. The volatile nerve agent is 500 times more toxic than cyanide: A single pinhead-size drop can kill an adult. The Matsumoto sarin attack killed seven people and injured 500, of whom 200 were admitted to hospitals at least overnight. Despite all that, Aum Shinrikyo managed to pull off its most audacious — and deadly — attack just nine months later. In the Monday morning rush hour of March 20, five cult members boarded different subway trains converging on central Tokyo.

Four of them each carried two plastic bags loaded with sarin, and the fifth had three bags. At nearly the same moment, they each dropped the bags to the floor of the jam-packed train and punctured them with a specially sharpened umbrella tip. The cultists then quickly stepped off the trains as they pulled into the next station. Getaway drivers were waiting outside the station for each of them. The liquid began vaporizing, and people began getting sick. Some of them got off the trains at subsequent stations, stumbling onto the platforms. At each stop, more gas spread, and more liquid was tracked off the trains and into the stations. The deadly sarin vapor also clung to the clothes and bodies of its victims, sickening those who rushed to their aid. Some of the trains continued traveling — one for an hour and 40 minutes — before finally stopping to deal with the emergency … and stop spreading it. Emergency and hospital services later got heavily criticized for the uncoordinated response.

Symptoms included bleeding from the nose and mouth, coma, convulsions, difficulty breathing, extreme sensitivity to light, flulike symptoms, foaming at the mouth, fevers, loss of consciousness, loss of memory, loss of vision, nausea, vomiting, paralysis, respiratory problems, seizures and uncontrollable trembling. Some survivors suffered these problems permanently, along with disturbed sleep, nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder. Many victims with initially mild symptoms went to work before sickening later and going to the hospital. Others probably never sought medical care. Estimates of the injured range from 3,800 up to 6,000. The sarin killed 12 people. Police began raiding cult buildings and property all over Japan within 48 hours, wearing hazmat equipment that had been issued to them for this purpose … the week before the Tokyo attack. The cult had in fact gotten wind of an impending crackdown and unleashed its subway attack to kill police officers. The Japanese government revoked Aum Shinrikyo’s status a religion and seized as many of the cult’s assets as it could find.

Some members later reorganized on a much smaller scale as Aleph (the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and a key symbol in mathematical set theory). About 200 people were arrested. About 20 are either still in Japan’s lengthy trial process standing trial or have already been convicted. At least eight Aum members, including the founder, have received death sentences for their roles in the attack. Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases, Japan 101 Chemical Plant at Sect Compound Reported : Japan: Officials think deadly gas sarin was made in cult's laboratory near Mt. Fuji, media say. - latimes Chemical Plant at Sect Compound Reported : Japan: Officials think deadly gas sarin was made in cult's laboratory near Mt. Fuji, media say. March 27, 1995 |DAVID HOLLEY | TIMES STAFF WRITER TOKYO — Raids resumed today on facilities of the secretive religious sect Aum Supreme Truth as Japanese media reported that police now believe the deadly gas sarin was manufactured at a sect laboratory in the village of Kamikuishiki.

Police are searching for evidence that could link the sect with last week's poison gas attack in Tokyo's subways that killed 10 and injured more than 5,000. On Sunday, police carrying blowtorches and chain saws searched three buildings at the Aum compound in snowy Kamikuishiki, 65 miles southwest of Tokyo near the foot of Mt. Fuji. They discovered a chemical production plant hidden behind a wall in one of the buildings, NHK Television reported. An underground bunker targeted in the raid was being used as a warehouse, and a building with pipes coming out of its side "is some kind of laboratory," a police officer told reporters at the scene. Police also found several large containers, described as of a type normally used for refrigeration, that had been divided into small windowless units of about one yard by two yards. Each unit had small openings suitable for handing in food or removing waste. Investigators suspect the cells may have been used to confine sect followers who attempted to flee, Kyodo News Agency reported. In one of the buildings, police found beds in rows, food, syringes and intravenous drip equipment, as well as used and unused containers of liquid glucose.

Police also suspect there is a possibility that bodies may be buried in the sect compound, the Asahi Shimbun reported today. Specialists are investigating whether the laboratory setup and the substances found can be used to produce sarin, the deadly nerve gas used in the Tokyo attack. "Police now believe the lethal gas was produced at the Kamikuishiki compound," the Daily Yomiuri newspaper reported today. Other media carried similar reports. Police also believe that the sect may have been acquiring antidotes for sarin. A doctor at a hospital run by Aum bought 600 bottles of sarin antidote between October and March, NHK reported. Sect leaders have asserted that the Aum compound itself has been the target of poison gas attacks. During Sunday's raid, officers wearing heavy chemical-warfare outfits carried sturdy containers into the building they described as a laboratory after first using cardboard boxes to remove confiscated items. They loaded drums of chemicals onto trucks to be taken away for examination. Police also seized several hundred containers of medicines, documents and books, said Masahiro Terao, head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police investigation bureau.

Cult leader Shoko Asahara, in a videotape sent to Japanese television stations last week, denied that the sect had any involvement in the Tokyo attack. He said the chemicals at the sect's facilities were used to make plastic, ceramics and pesticides. Police are seeking Asahara for questioning. Police who had staked out five vessels owned by Aum tried to question about half a dozen sect members in the coastal city of Ichikawa, east of Tokyo, on Sunday, but the Aum followers ignored police orders and fled on one of the boats, Yomiuri reported. It was not clear from the report whether an attempt had been made at pursuit. Aum lawyer Yoshinobu Aoyama and Fumihiro Joyu, leader of the cult's Moscow branch, reiterated the sect's innocence in a television appearance Sunday on Asahi Television. "A group affiliated with state authorities created this plot," Aoyama said. Joyu insisted that the chemicals discovered by police were used to make goods ranging from toothpaste to plastic food containers that would help the group set up self-sufficient farming cooperatives.

"There's been so much Aum Supreme Truth-bashing recently that we find it harder and harder to buy what we need to buy," Joyu said. "We have to make it ourselves." Investigators looking into the Tokyo subway poisonings announced today that 341 tips about suspicious persons seen on the subways on the morning of the attack have been received, partly in response to 50,000 leaflets that were distributed to request assistance from the public. Police are also waiting for some of the more seriously injured people now hospitalized to recover enough to be interviewed as potential witnesses. Meanwhile, in Moscow, a fire of suspicious origin broke out Sunday on the campus of the Russia-Japan University, destroying documents in an office used by an Aum-affiliated organization, NHK reported. The cult has also been controversial in Russia, where the Justice Ministry on Friday annulled the registration of the Moscow branch, accusing its leaders of having secured official recognition on the basis of "false documents." Times staff writer Carol J. Williams in Moscow contributed to this report. MORE:

Question: Which poisonous compound was used by a religous cult in deadly attacks on the Tokyo subway in 1995?
Answer: SARIN