Two feared dead in bullet train suicide fire in Japan

A passenger on the stretcher is carried by rescue workers from a Shinkansen bullet train after it made an emergency stop in Odawara, south of Tokyo. -- PHOTO: REUTERS.

TOKYO (AFP) - Two people were feared dead on Tuesday after an apparent suicide attempt on board a moving shinkansen bullet train in Japan, a spokesman for the rail operator told AFP.

“We have been informed that there was a passenger in a carriage on the train who covered him or herself with oil and set it on fire,” said a JR Central spokesman.