NEW YORK: Canadian police Thursday identified a man fatally stabbed in Vancouver in the early hours of Wednesday as 32-year-old Wataru Kakiuchi from Japan.

The Consulate-General of Japan in Vancouver confirmed Kakiuchi, who lived in Burnaby in greater Vancouver, to be a Japanese national. After being alerted by the police of the stabbing, the consulate-general contacted his family.

Kakiuchi was stabbed near Vancouver’s Chinatown around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday. He was declared dead while being transported to hospital.

Kakiuchi worked at an “izakaya” Japanese-style bar in the city.

“This senseless act of violence has our city in shock and mourning,” Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said in a statement Thursday. “He was a positive presence and a cherished friend to many.”

JIJI Press