19 confirmed dead in Osaka building fire: source
The local fire department received a report around 10:20 a.m. that a fire had started on the fourth floor of the eight-story multitenant building located near JR Osaka Station, Kyodo reports.
The fire was nearly extinguished by around 10:45 a.m. after burning across an area of about 20 square meters, the fire department said.
The fire apparently started in a medical clinic on the fourth floor. The website of the clinic says it provides psychosomatic and psychiatric treatments.
Investigative sources said there is a report that a «man lit fire» in the building in Kita Ward in the western Japan city. From the fourth floor of the building, 17 men and 10 women, all showing no signs of life, were brought out, according to firefighters.
The police were also informed that fire had been started from liquid dispersed from a paper bag held by a man who appeared to be in his 60s, according to the sources.
«When I looked outside (from my nearby office), I saw an orange flame in the window on the fourth floor of the building,» a witness said. «A woman was waving from the window on the sixth floor and seeking help.»
Another person working at a nearby restaurant said, «I saw smoke coming out of the building and there were a lot of firetrucks and ambulances. People were being rescued by a firetruck with a ladder. At one point, there was a power outage in the surrounding area.»
The incident occurred in Osaka's Kitashinchi district where a number of bars and nightclubs are located.
Around 70 firetrucks and ambulances arrived at the scene while onlookers watched anxiously as rescue efforts took place.
