ID :
22303
Thu, 10/02/2008 - 09:36
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/22303
The shortlink copeid
Osaka tenant building fire kills 15, man nabbed for arson, murder
OSAKA, Oct. 1 Kyodo - Police arrested a 46-year-old man Wednesday on suspicion of arson and murder following a predawn fire that left 15 people dead and 10 others injured, three seriously, at an establishment for viewing videos in a multi-tenant building in
Osaka.
Kazuhiro Ogawa, an unemployed man from Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture, is
suspected of setting fire to a newspaper in his bag while using one of the
rooms in the establishment, according to the police. They quoted him as saying
he had ''got fed up with life.''
All of the dead, found in individual rooms, were male customers and are
believed to have died of carbon monoxide poisoning or inhalation burns,
according to the firefighters.
The fire is believed to have started in the room the arrested man was using,
the police said. He was quoted as telling investigators initially that he had
been smoking and sleeping.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency dispatched seven officials for an
on-site investigation.
The blaze broke out in the establishment on the first floor of the seven-story
building in Naniwa Ward in Osaka city shortly before 3 a.m., the firefighters
said.
There were 32 individual rooms, each equipped with a reclining sofa, TV and
video recorder, and 26 customers, two staff members and the manager were
present when the fire broke out, the police and the firefighters said.
Most of the dead were found in the individual rooms, while several were found
collapsed in the aisle, which is 1.2-1.6 meters wide.
The police are in the process of identifying them, they said.
A 37-year-old customer from Itami, Hyogo Prefecture who managed to escape said
he had gone to the establishment at around 1 a.m. following work in order to
stay there overnight. The layout of the establishment ''is so complicated that
customers who visited here for the first time may have found it difficult to
escape.''
The building is located in a downtown area near Namba Station operated by
Nankai Electric Railway Co., and the fire was put out in about an hour and a
half after burning some 37 square meters of the establishment's about 220 sq.
meters of floor space.
The number of video-viewing establishments has been increasing mainly in big
cities, and many customers use them to stay overnight as the charge for one
night is mostly set at less than 2,000 yen.
At the fire-hit Osaka establishment, a customer could stay for up to 11 hours
from 11 p.m. at a cost of 1,500 yen.
Osaka.
Kazuhiro Ogawa, an unemployed man from Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture, is
suspected of setting fire to a newspaper in his bag while using one of the
rooms in the establishment, according to the police. They quoted him as saying
he had ''got fed up with life.''
All of the dead, found in individual rooms, were male customers and are
believed to have died of carbon monoxide poisoning or inhalation burns,
according to the firefighters.
The fire is believed to have started in the room the arrested man was using,
the police said. He was quoted as telling investigators initially that he had
been smoking and sleeping.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency dispatched seven officials for an
on-site investigation.
The blaze broke out in the establishment on the first floor of the seven-story
building in Naniwa Ward in Osaka city shortly before 3 a.m., the firefighters
said.
There were 32 individual rooms, each equipped with a reclining sofa, TV and
video recorder, and 26 customers, two staff members and the manager were
present when the fire broke out, the police and the firefighters said.
Most of the dead were found in the individual rooms, while several were found
collapsed in the aisle, which is 1.2-1.6 meters wide.
The police are in the process of identifying them, they said.
A 37-year-old customer from Itami, Hyogo Prefecture who managed to escape said
he had gone to the establishment at around 1 a.m. following work in order to
stay there overnight. The layout of the establishment ''is so complicated that
customers who visited here for the first time may have found it difficult to
escape.''
The building is located in a downtown area near Namba Station operated by
Nankai Electric Railway Co., and the fire was put out in about an hour and a
half after burning some 37 square meters of the establishment's about 220 sq.
meters of floor space.
The number of video-viewing establishments has been increasing mainly in big
cities, and many customers use them to stay overnight as the charge for one
night is mostly set at less than 2,000 yen.
At the fire-hit Osaka establishment, a customer could stay for up to 11 hours
from 11 p.m. at a cost of 1,500 yen.
