The man prepared a chain of explosions to destroy all personal effects
Tokyo, Reuters Oct 23, 2016 – A 72-year-old retired soldier blew himself up in a park in Japan, killing himself and injuring three others in an apparent suicide.
The dismembered body of the man was found after explosions rocked the city of Utsunomiya, about 60 miles north of Tokyo.
Police said they had discovered a suicide note written by the man.
His house in Utsunomiya had been destroyed in a fire shortly before the explosions hit, it was reported.
The explosion in the park injured two men aged 64 and 58.
One of the injured was being treated for shrapnel wounds. The third was a 14 year-old school boy.
Japanese police investigate cars burnt near the park in Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo
The explosions occurred at a park in Utsunomiya, about 60 miles north of Tokyo, shortly after 11:30am local time
Multiple explosions near a park in Japan left one dead and three injured
One person was killed and three injured by two near-simultaneous blasts in a Japanese park
A folk art festival was taking place in the park but was immediately called off following the blasts.
A second explosions, separate from the blast that killed the former Self Defence Force member, caused a fire in a nearby parking lot.
The car caught fire in the parking lot and burnt down two other vehicles, one of which belonged to the dead man.
Flames and smoke shot into the air and repeated bangs could be heard.
State broadcaster NHK said the sites of the two explosions were around 200 metres apart.
Images broadcast by NHK showed two burnt out cars, one of which belonged to the dead man, about 200 metres (650 feet) from the park
Firefighters investigate a burnt car at the site of an explosion in Utsunomiya today
Witnesses told the broadcaster they heard a series of loud explosions.
One said he ‘smelled gunpowder in the area’ after the blasts.
Suicide rates have declined in Japan in recent years, but remain among the highest in the world, with around 30,000 people a year taking their own lives.
Experts have pointed to the financial stress of surviving on small pensions for pushing some retired people to end their lives.
In 2015, a 71-year-old man set himself on fire on a bullet train in an incident that also claimed the life of a 52 year-old woman traveling in the same carriage.
Police said they were investigating whether the incidents at the two sites were linked, but did not give further details
