Tokyo Metro's Shirokane-takanawa Station is seen late on Aug. 24, 2021. (Mainichi/Maki Kihara)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A man and a woman sustained burns on Tuesday night after what appeared to be sulfuric acid was thrown at the man in a subway station in central Tokyo, police said.

       Following the incident, which occurred shortly after 9 p.m. at Tokyo Metro Co.'s Shirokane Takanawa Station in the capital's Minato Ward, a male suspect aged between 30 and 50, dressed in black and wearing a mask, fled the scene. The capital has been tightening its security as the Tokyo Paralympics opened the same day.

       The 22-year-old man was injured in the face while the 34-year-old woman suffered burns on her legs, and both were transported to a hospital. The man's burns are severe while the woman's injury is mild, the police said.

       According to the subway operator, the suspect threw the acid at the man as he overtook him from the right side. The two victims were standing near an elevator in the subway station.

       The incident, which occurred in a high-end residential area, prompted police to seal off the station entrance with many officers on alert.

       Subway operations were not affected, as the suspect fled the station.

       The incident follows an attack by a knife-wielding man on an Odakyu Electric Railway commuter train in Tokyo earlier this month which left 10 people injured.

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