23 Injured after Substance Sprayed at Osaka School

Osaka, July 17 (Jiji Press)–Twenty-three people, mainly students, were injured after an unknown substance was sprayed at a municipal junior high school in the city of Kaizuka, Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, on Friday morning. According to the city’s board of education, 15 students and eight school staff members including teachers complained of sore throats and skin irritation after the incident. None of them were said to be seriously injured. Around 10:40 a.m., an emergency call was made to report that a substance had been sprayed and that people had been injured. After arriving at the scene, the Osaka prefectural police detained a second-year male student of the school outside the school building. The boy has admitted spraying a substance, and the police will investigate him on suspicion of causing injuries to others, sources said. The incident took place on the day of the school’s term-closing ceremony. The boy and a female student had a problem after the ceremony, according to the sources. The school is located in a residential area about 500 meters northeast of Mizuma Railway Co.’s Mikeyamaguchi Station. A second-year male student, who was cleaning a classroom on the second floor when the incident happened, recalled a teacher rushing into the room and asking whether anybody got their throats hurt. The student expressed concern, saying, “I feel sorry for those injured.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]