Doomsday Cult Released Poison Gas on Tokyo Subway 1995 Sarin Attack

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]In 1995, Tokyo commuters boarded their morning trains like any other day. They had no idea they were about to become victims of the world's first chemical terrorist attack. [music] A nearly blind guru named Shoko Asahara had built something terrifying. His cult, Aum Shinrikyo, looked like a religious group, but behind closed doors, brilliant [music] scientists were cooking up weapons of mass destruction.

[00:00:24]They recruited Nobel Prize winners. They accumulated millions in donations. And in remote compounds, they were secretly developing sarin nerve gas. On March 20th, cult members carried plastic bags onto five subway lines [music] during rush hour. They punctured the bags and walked away. The colorless, odorless gas spread [music] through the cars.

[00:00:45]Passengers began convulsing, foaming at the mouth. 14 people died. Thousands were injured. But this wasn't random violence. Asahara believed he could trigger World War III and fulfill his apocalyptic prophecies. Police raids revealed underground laboratories, >> [music] >> chemical weapon stockpiles, and evidence of murders within the cult itself. A religious leader had turned his followers into a domestic terrorist army, and [music] Tokyo paid the price.