National News

Paramedics give aid to a victim of the stabbing rampage in Akihabara in Tokyo's Chiyoda-ku, June 8, 2008. (Mainichi)

The death toll from a stabbing spree in downtown Tokyo on Sunday afternoon has risen to seven, police said.

The random attack in the Akihabara district of Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, also injured 10 others, paralyzing shoppers with fear.

The 25-year-old killer, Tomohiro Kato, a temporary worker from Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture, was arrested for attempted murder because none of the victims had been confirmed dead at the time. Police are poised to upgrade the charges to murder.

He admitted to the allegations during questioning. "I traveled to Akihabara from Shizuoka to kill people. Anybody was OK. I was tired of life," he was quoted as telling investigators.

It was the worst random attack since a man went on a stabbing spree at Ikeda Elementary School in 2001, leaving eight children dead and 15 others injured.

At around 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Kato rammed his truck into several people, police said. He got out of the vehicle, and grunted and roared as he slashed and stabbed his victims at random on a street crowded with shoppers, according to investigators.

He attempted to run away, but when a police officer pointed a gun at him, he dropped his knife.

Those killed in the attack are six men aged between 19 and 74 and a 21-year-old woman. They have been identified as Mai Muto, 21, Kazuhiro Koiwa, 47, Katsuhiko Nakamura, 74, Mitsuru Matsui, 33, Kazunori Fujino, 19, Naoki Miyamoto, 31, and Takahiro Kawaguchi, 19.

Of those injured, eight people are men including an assistant police inspector.

Kato had rented the truck in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture.

Akihabara's electronics and video game district, known as Electric Town, is widely popular with Japanese youth.