A third Chinese citizen has died after a South Korean man went on a stabbing and arson rampage yesterday in Seoul

Seven women, including three Chinese citizens, were killed in the attack. Another three female Chinese citizens were injured along with three others after the man set fire to a small inn and then stabbed guests, said officials from the Chinese Embassy in Seoul.

Policemen keep guard outside an inn where a South Korean man set fire and stabbed guests in Seoul Oct. 20, 2008. [Xinhua]

One of the dead Chinese women was 58-year-old Piao Zhengshu from Shenyang, Liaoning Province. The identities of the other two dead Chinese women remained unclear, China News Service reported today.

Jin Baojin, 44 from Yanbian, Jilin Province, and Zhang Caiyu, 40, suffered serious injuries while Jin Meizuo, 32, only had minor injuries sustained in the attack. All three are in hospital, said Song Yumin, consul of the Chinese Embassy.

The incident took place at 8:15 a.m. and the 31-year-old suspect, identified only by his surname Jeong, was caught an hour later in an attic on the fourth floor.

Jeong first set fire to his room in the low-cost lodging facility in Seoul and then randomly stabbed other residents with a sashimi knife while they fled the fire, police said yesterday.

The suspect told police he did not want to live because "everybody looks down on me", Kim Kap-shik, chief detective at Gangnam station, told reporters yesterday.

Police said they seized two more knives and a tear-gas gun from Jeong who used to work part time at restaurants, but had been unemployed since April.

He had been under considerable financial pressure and could not pay his rent or mobile-phone fees for months, Kim said.

(Shanghai Daily October 21, 2008)