HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) A university student who said he was bent on suicide was arrested Saturday for overturning a highway bus and injuring 12 people onboard after seizing control of the steering wheel from the driver.
Yuki Kajita, a 22-year-old junior at Kagoshima University, allegedly grabbed the wheel of the bus, which was traveling from Osaka to Kagoshima, on the Sanyo Expressway in Hiroshima Prefecture late Friday, police said.
A substitute driver who was in the bus tried to stop Kajita, but he again took the wheel and steered it to the left. The bus overturned after hitting a barrier on the other side of the emergency lane.
Passengers managed to hold Kajita inside the overturned bus until the police arrived.
All 10 passengers, including Kajita, as well as the driver and the substitute driver, suffered minor injuries, the police said.
Kajita was quoted as shouting after the bus overturned: "Everybody will die. Please kill me."
According to the police, he later told officers, "I knew other people were also on the bus, but I wanted to kill myself."
Police suspect that Kajita was on his way home after visiting a company in search of work, as he was wearing a suit and tie and was carrying a briefcase containing a company brochure.
Meanwhile, Kajita had apparently left some messages on some social networking sites, such as Facebook and Mixi, saying that he felt nervous about job-hunting.
"I must find a job by spring. I am becoming a bit nervous and busy," read one message posted on Facebook.
His self-introduction on Mixi says that he is from Kagoshima Prefecture and has studied in Australia. Kajita's 55-year-old father confirmed that Kajita was a student in Australia.
