At least 24 people were yesterday killed after a blaze gutted a mental health clinic in a commercial building in Osaka, Japan, local media said, with police reportedly considering the incident a possible arson.
The charred interior of the clinic was visible through blackened and broken window frames as firefighters put up tarpaulins to block the scene from view following the fire that broke out mid-morning and raged for half an hour on the narrow block’s fourth floor.
“The municipal fire department is investigating the cause of the fire. I have received a report that Osaka police is investigating the fire as a possible arson,” Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura wrote on Twitter.
Photo: AFP
Japanese media said a man in his 50s or 60s had allegedly dispersed a liquid to start the blaze.
A young woman who witnessed the fire told public broadcaster NHK she had seen a woman trapped on the fourth floor.
“She leaned out [from a window] and was saying things like ‘please help’... She seemed very weak. Maybe she inhaled lots of smoke,” the woman said.
Osaka, a major economic hub, is Japan’s second-biggest metropolis after the greater Tokyo region.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida offered his “sincere condolences” to the victims and sympathy to those injured in the incident.
“We must get to the bottom of this horrible case. We must clarify the cause and how it happened, and we must take measures to prevent the same thing from happening again,” he said.
Dozens of fire engines rushed to the scene of the blaze, which occurred in a busy business area near Kitashinchi Station.
Most of the eight-story structure’s exterior remained intact after the fire, with about 20m2 reportedly burned in the blaze.
“There was lots of dark smoke ... there was a very strong smell, too,” a middle-aged woman told NHK at the scene.
Fuji TV reported that most of those who died in the fire were believed to have had carbon monoxide poisoning.
One year ago, a man was charged with murder over a 2019 arson attack on a Kyoto animation studio that killed 36 people, the country’s deadliest violent crime in decades.
A 2008 arson attack on a video shop in Osaka killed 16 people. The attacker is on death row.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
BIG SPENDERS: Foreign investors bought the most Taiwan equities since 2005, signaling confidence that an AI boom would continue to benefit chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market capitalization swelled to US$2 trillion for the first time following a 4.25 percent rally in its American depositary receipts (ADR) overnight, putting the world’s biggest contract chipmaker sixth on the list of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalization, just behind Amazon.com Inc. The site CompaniesMarketcap.com ranked TSMC ahead of Saudi Aramco and Meta Platforms Inc. The Taiwanese company’s ADRs on Tuesday surged to US$385.75 on the New York Stock Exchange, as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications led to chip supply constraints and boost revenue growth to record-breaking levels. Each TSMC ADR represents
Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) fraud conviction and prison sentence were yesterday overturned by a Hong Kong court, in a surprise legal decision that comes soon after Lai was jailed for 20 years on a separate national security charge. Judges Jeremy Poon (潘兆初), Anthea Pang (彭寶琴) and Derek Pang (彭偉昌) said in the judgement that they allowed the appeal from Lai, and another defendant in the case, to proceed, as a lower court judge had “erred.” “The Court of Appeal gave them leave to appeal against their conviction, allowed their appeals, quashed the convictions and set aside the sentences,” the judges
RSS