At least 27 people may have lost their lives in a fire that broke out in a commercial building in the central district of Osaka, the main metropolis of western Japan. The firefighters announced it. “Twenty-seven people are in cardio-respiratory arrest,” a spokesman for the firefighters told AFP. This is an expression used in Japan to speak of deaths not yet officially confirmed by a doctor. A twenty-eighth person would be injured. “The fire was identified at 10.18 am (local time) on the fourth floor of this eight-story building,” the spokesman added, explaining that the fire was extinguished approximately half an hour later.
It is feared that arson was the cause of the fire. This was reported by investigative sources, cited by the Japanese media, explaining that the fire spread shortly after 10 am from the fourth floor of a building, where a psychiatric assistance clinic was located. The police believe that a man may have started the flames, which then quickly spread to the building located in the Kitashinchi district, populated by bars and nightclubs.