A homeless man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering three men whose bodies were found Thursday in the Arakawa River in Tokyo's Edogawa River, police said.

In police custody is Yoshio Ando, 52, who has admitted to stabbing three fellow homeless men and dumping their bodies into the river.

The bodies of two men, one bearing apparent stab wounds, were found Thursday morning on a breakwater in the river. The third was discovered several hours later based on Ando's confession.

Ando told police that he killed the three men after quarreling with them Wednesday night, they said.

An angler found the first body on a breakwater and reported the discovery to police around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, they said.

Police found the second body about 5 meters away.

The two men appeared to be in their 40s or older, police said. One was found on his back, dressed in a tank top and a black pair of pants. The other was lying on his stomach and wearing yellow trunks.

One of the men appeared to have been stabbed in the chest and other areas, police said.

The second man had been seen living by the river near the place where he was found.

No details on the third man were released.

Investigators said the murder suspect was living in a plywood shelter under a bridge about 1 km upstream from the site where the first two bodies were found.