June 22 (Reuters) – A former Mazda Motor (7261.T) employee driving a station wagon smashed into Madza workers as they changed shifts at one of the car maker’s plants in Japan, killing one and injuring 10, the automaker said.
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The driver, Toshiaki Hikiji, was arrested less than an hour later a few kilometres away on suspected murder and other charges, Hiroshima prefectural police spokeswoman Takae Shiozaki said.
National broadcasters reported that Hikiji, a 42-year-old temporary worker, told police he had been fired two months ago and wanting to cause harm to Mazda, drove a Mazda Familia through the factory grounds intending to kill.
Mazda said Hikiji had started on April 1 but resigned eight working days later citing personal reasons.
National broadcasters showed swarms of police at Mazda’s Ujina factory in Hiroshima, where workers had been coming in and out of the plant between the night and day shifts at the time of the crime.
The Ujina plant builds the popular Mazda2/Demio subcompact and other models. (Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
