Around the World: Japan

1 dead in stabbing spree

One person was stabbed to death and at least seven others were hurt by a man who went on a knifing spree yesterday outside a shopping mall in eastern Japan, police said.

The suspect carried two knives and slashed the victims while walking along a short hallway connecting a railway station to the mall in the city of Tsuchiura, about 62 km northeast of Tokyo, a police official said.

At least seven people, including shoppers and police officer, were injured and an eighth - a 27-year-old man - died as he was being rushed to a nearby hospital, said Kiyoto Ogata, a police spokesman.

(China Daily 03/24/2008 page6)