The killing of Kenji Nagai was photographed by a colleague yesterday in Rangoon, Burma. The photojournalist was one of nine killed and 11 injured when the military junta ordered troops to fire into a crowd of pro-democracy demonstrators.

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets for a second day in the country's main city, defying the government repression that has drawn international appeals for restraint.

A Japanese embassy official in Burma confirmed that Nagai, 50, who was covering the protests in Rangoon, was among those killed. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Tokyo would lodge a protest with the junta over the killing.

Britain's ambassador to Burma, Mark Canning, said the authorities had "ratcheted up" their response in an attempt to "scare and intimidate" the protesters.

US President George W Bush called on all countries with influence over Burma to tell the junta to stop using force UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon planned to send a special envoy and urged the junta "to exercise utmost restraint".