TOKYO (AFP) - At least two people died and five others were injured on Thursday when a man believed to be a Chinese worker went on a stabbing rampage at a fish processing firm in Japan, police and press reports said.

The man in his thirties used a knife and shovel to attack several people at the firm in Etajima, a port near the western city of Hiroshima, a prefectural police spokesman said by telephone.

"The number of injured may possibly rise," he said. The man was believed to be Chinese and was arrested on charges of murder and attempted murder, an Etajima police officer said.

The assailant was arrested after local police were informed of "a brawl involving men and women with several people lying in blood", the Jiji Press news agency said, adding he was believed to be a worker at the firm.

The agency had earlier said the man was a Chinese exchange student. The TV Asahi network said the dead were the male president of the plant and a woman, and that the assailant was also injured.

The incident occurred when about 10 people were scraping oysters from shells at the plant, public broadcaster NHK said, adding the attacker was a trainee worker there.