TOKYO: A man opened fire at a gym in western Japan on Friday evening, killing two people and injuring six others, including children, a local official and news reports said.

The gunman briefly seized the gym, taking some 10 people hostage, but later fled from the site, according to a local fire department official. The shooting occurred at a gym in Sasebo, some 900km west of Tokyo, local media said.

Swimming instructor Mai Kuramoto, 25, was taken to hospital but later died, the official said, although the Kyodo news agency gave her age as 26. A 36-year-old man identified as fisherman Yuji Fujimoto was also killed, Kyodo said.

Among the injured were three young girls, one aged nine and two 10, who were sent to hospital with leg wounds, but are conscious, the official and Kyodo said.—AFP