A Japanese journalist lies fatally wounded on a wet Rangoon street. Demonstrators flee in terror from the junta’s gun-toting, baton-wielding security forces. A man is being trampled underfoot. A teargas cylinder flies through the air. Flip-flops, lost in the panic, and discarded water bottles litter the road.

This image, and another taken seconds later, capture not just the shooting of the journalist, but a hundred tiny details that convey the full horror of events unfolding in Rangoon as the ruthless military regime in Burma fights to crush the pro-democracy demonstrations that threaten its survival.

The first picture was taken at about 1pm yesterday as the security forces moved in to break up a mass demonstration near the Sule Pagoda. Kenji Nagai, the journalist, had just been shot. He is shown lying on his back with his video camera held over his head and blood from a bullet wound just visible on the front of his shirt.

Sources in the opposition National League for Democracy said they believed that he was shot by an army sniper who may have mistaken him for a Burmese citizen.

There has clearly been gunfire because the demonstrators – some of them women – are fleeing in terror. Just one man, wearing a black shirt, is looking back. Two other demonstrators appear to be trying to lift a fallen colleague.

Chasing them are three members of the security forces. The officer in blue, who is about to beat a protester with a rubber baton, is a member of the riot police. The soldier in green is wielding a German G3 automatic rifle and is thought to be a member of the 77th Light Division. The third officer, dressed in grey, is a policeman. Just in front of his bamboo shield a teargas cylinder is flying through the air.

Seconds later Mr Nagai is lying prostrate, a look of agony on his face. The bloodstain on his shirt is now clearly visible. His right arm, bearing the camera, has fallen to his side.

Three or four demonstrators have now tripped. Those seeking shelter behind the generator cage are looking back, fear etched on their faces. Another policeman has joined the fray and is in the act of striking one of the fallen demonstrators with his baton. On the far right of the second picture an elderly man clutching an umbrella has been left behind.

Mr Nagai, 50, was one of at least nine people killed in Rangoon yesterday as the junta ordered its security forces to crack down on the pro-democracy demonstrations and shoot their own civilians.

Colleagues said that the video journalist from Tokyo, who worked for APF News, had been filming in Rangoon since Tuesday, and was unstoppable in his pursuit of a story. He had adopted as his mantra: “Someone has to go to the places nobody wants to go.”

His death triggered furious protests from Tokyo. Masahiko Komura, the new Foreign Minister, said that Japan held the Burmese regime strictly accountable for Mr Nagai’s death and demanded an investigation. Nobutaka Machimura, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, said that the killing was “extremely regrettable” and added: “We demand the Myanmar [Burmese] Government stop oppression and use of force.”

Yasuo Fukuda, the Prime Minister, said of the situation in Burma: “Something deplorable is happening. We have to think about what we should do to resolve the situation.”

Diplomatic manoeuvres

— The United States ordered a freeze on the assets of Burma’s military leader and 13 other top officials

— President Bush urged Burmese troops “not to use force on their fellow citizens”

— Foreign ministers of the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (Asean) expressed “revulsion” at the treatment of protesters. “They were appalled to receive reports of automatic weapons being used,” said George Yeo, the Singaporean Foreign Minister

— Burma issued a visa to Ibrahim Gambari, who was dispatched by the UN Security Council to investigate the crisis

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