15 dead in knife attack on Japan disabled care centre: media

What you need to know:

Police in Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture, about 40 kilometres south-west of Tokyo, have arrested a man in his 20s.

Some 15 people died and 45 are injured in a knife attack at a care centre for the disabled in Japan.

The attack came in the small hours of Tuesday when the man entered the facility. Police in Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture, about 40 kilometres south-west of Tokyo, have arrested a man in his 20s, Kyodo said.

Japanese media said staff called police at 2:30am local time on Tuesday with reports of a man armed with a knife on the grounds of the sprawling Tsukui Yamayuri Garden facility.

A man handed himself over at a police station half an hour later and said: "I did it", a spokesman at Kanagawa Prefecture Police said.

Asahi Shimbun reported that the suspect was quoted by police as saying "I want to get rid of the disabled from this world". (AFP)