Japan reels from worst massacre since World War II after a knifeman hacks to death at least 19 people because he wanted 'to get rid of the disabled from this world'

• Attacker storms into centre for disabled near Tokyo armed with a knife as police called at around 2.30am local time 
• At least 19 people were killed and reports that at least 26 were injured as officers arrest a man who said 'I did it'
• Satoshi Uematsu, 26, is in custody and is reported to have said: 'I want to get rid of the disabled from this world' 
• Police said the man, who had a 'number of sharp weapons', used to work at the centre before bosses sacked him 

At least 19 people have been hacked to death and another 26 seriously injured by a knife-wielding man at a disabled care centre in Japan in what has been deemed the country's worst mass murder since World War II. 

Satoshi Uematsu, 26, has been arrested after he went into the Tsukui Yamayuri En centre in Sagamihara, outside of Tokyo, brandishing a knife at around 2.30am local time.

Police were called to the scene after residents saw a man with blonde hair armed with a blade in black clothes in the centre's grounds. 

Uematsu, who is a former employee at the care centre, walked into a police station 30 minutes after the gruesome attack and said 'I did it'.

Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported that the suspect told police: 'I want to get rid of the disabled from this world.' 

Broadcaster NTV reported that the arrested man presented a letter to the speaker of the lower house of Japan's parliament in February calling for euthanasia of disabled people.

'My goal is a world in which, in cases where it is difficult for the severely disabled to live at home and be socially active, they can be euthanized with the consent of their guardians,' it quoted the letter as saying.

The 26-year-old had 'a number of sharp weapons in his bag, a number of them bloodstained' when he turned himself in, according to local media.

Officers, who arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder and trespass, said he had worked at the centre until February when he was sacked.

He broke into the centre, which was manned by eight members of staff at the time, by smashing a window with a hammer. 

Officials say at least 19 people were killed in the frenzy attack, while another 26 were left seriously injured and taken to six different hospitals to be treated.   

The death toll could make this the worst mass killing in Japan in the post-World War II era.

Police said they were still investigating possible motives. The suspect was quoted by police as saying: 'I want to get rid of the disabled from this world.' Other reports said he had held a grudge after being fired from his job at the facility. 

Government officials have ruled out any link to Islamic extremism as a motive. 

'This is a very heart-wrenching and shocking incident in which many innocent people became victims,' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.  

Armed police encircled the local government supported centre, which offers support to 150 people with a wide range of disabilities aged between 19-75.

The centre provides rehabilitation activities, accommodation and a medical clinic. 

Television footage showed a number of ambulances parked outside the facility, with medics and other rescue workers running in and out. Almost 30 'emergency squads' responded to the attack.

A man identified as the father of a patient in the centre told NHK he learned about the attack on the radio and had received no further information.

'I'm very worried but they won't let me in,' he said, standing just outside a cordon of yellow crime-scene tape.

A woman who lives opposite the centre told reporters: 'I was told by a policeman to stay inside my house, as it could be dangerous. 

'Then ambulances began arriving, and blood-covered people were taken away.'

Akie Inoue said her daughter knew the suspect from events at the facility when she was in elementary school.

'I was surprised to hear that the culprit was a person from this neighborhood,' she said. 'My daughter knew the culprit, I mean, they were acquainted. They would greet each other when they would meet and she tells me that he was a very kind person. We are all very shocked.'

Her daughter, Honoka, said: 'He had a cheerful impression... He was the kind of person that would greet you first.' 

A U.S. government statement issued by the White House expressed shock at the 'heinous attack'. 

'The United States offers our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed in the heinous attack today in Sagamihara, Japan,' it read.

'We also pray for the speedy recovery of the dozens of individuals who were wounded. There is never any excuse for such violence, but the fact that this attack occurred at a facility for persons with disabilities makes it all the more repugnant and senseless.

'The thoughts of the American people are with our Japanese friends as they mourn the lives lost.'

The city is home to a large US Army depot called the Sagami Army Depot.

Sagamihara, which has a population of around 720,000, last made international news in 2012 when one of the suspects in the 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway was arrested there.

The stabbings are likely to shock Japan, a country with one of the lowest crime rates.

A man stabbed eight children to death and wounded 15 other people in 2001 at a secondary school in Ikeda.

In 2008, a man drove a lorry into a crowd in Tokyo, running people over before going on a stabbing rampage. He killed seven and injured 10.

The disabled centre attack comes after Mayu Tomita, a Japanese pop star, was left in a coma in May when a fan stabbed her dozens of times after she allegedly turned down a gift he had sent her.

Police later recovered a three-inch knife from the crime scene in western Tokyo. A bloodstained mask and a trail of blood were also found on a set of stairs near to where the star had been due to perform a concert.

Tomohiro Iwazaki, 27, later confessed to stabbing Tomita in the neck and chest.

He claimed he 'ambushed' the star because she returned a gift he sent her.

In March last year, five people were also stabbed to death in a knife attack on a Japanese island.

A man was arrested after the victims were discovered in two houses.

Media reports said those killed range in age from 60 to 80 and lived in homes set among farms in the city of Sumoto on Awaji Island.