An unprovoked stabbing rampage on the Las Vegas Strip left two people dead and six others hurt , police in the US city said.

Locals and tourists were caught up in the attack, which happened in the middle of the day in a spot usually thronged with visitors.

The knifeman then ran along the street, attacking several other people.

Members of the public gave chase as the attacker fled, until he was intercepted by a security guard and police officers, according to LaRochelle.

The suspect, who was described as a Hispanic man in his 30s, is not thought to be local to Las Vegas.

Parts of the Las Vegas strip, home to major venues including the resorts Wynn Las Vegas and The Venetian, remained closed on Thursday as detectives scoured the crime scene.

Mass stabbings do not often make the news in the United States, where the scourge of gun crime regularly claims multiple lives.