Arson suspected in fire that claims 24 in Japan
Police search for man seen carrying paper bag
OSAKA, Japan – A fire that spread from a fourth-floor mental clinic in an eight-story building in downtown Osaka in western Japan on Friday left 24 dead in what police were investigating as a possible case of arson and murder.
Police were searching for a man in his 50s to 60s whom witnesses saw carrying a paper bag from which an unidentified liquid was dripping. He may have been among the 24 dead, or may be one of three people who were resuscitated and were in serious condition, or may have fled, a police investigator said on condition of anonymity.
Fire officials who reached the building in the major business, shopping and entertainment area of Kitashinchi in Osaka found 27 people in a state of cardiac arrest, Osaka fire department official Akira Kishimoto said.
One woman was conscious and brought down by an aerial ladder from a window on the sixth floor and was being treated in a hospital, he said. Later Friday, 24 people were pronounced dead, the fire department said.
In Japan, the authorities customarily describe those without vital signs as being in “shinpai teishi,” or a state of cardiac and pulmonary arrest, and do not confirm deaths until they are pronounced at hospitals and other necessary procedures are done.
A doctor at one of the hospitals treating victims said he believed many died after inhaling carbon monoxide as they had limited external injuries. Police said causes of death could not be determined until the bodies were autopsied.
One of the clients said the clinic was popular and was always crowded with 15-20 people waiting, especially on Fridays when special counseling and programs were available for those preparing to return to work after taking a sick leave, public broadcaster NHK said.
Authorities are investigating a possibility that the smoke filled the floor so quickly that the victims had no time to escape, Nippon Television said.
Hours later Friday night, crowds were still gathering outside the building to glimpse the scene where firefighters and police officers were investigating.
The building houses the mental and internal medicine clinic, an Englishlanguage
school and other businesses. Most of the victims are believed to have been visitors at the clinic on the fourth floor, fire officials said.
Osaka police earlier said they were working to determine whether the fire was caused by arson.
According to NHK, a female outpatient at the clinic’s reception desk saw the man being sought by police. Another person nearby said the fire started soon after he put the leaky bag next to a stove on the floor and kicked it, with more of the liquid pouring out.
The clinic’s psychiatrist, Kotaro Nishizawa, could not be reached since the fire, NHK said. It quoted his father as saying the doctor hinted at a problem at the clinic but did not elaborate.
People on other floors of the building were safely evacuated, fire officials said.