4 die in pachinko parlor fire in Osaka

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OSAKA, July 6 Kyodo -
Four people died and at least 19 people were injured in a fire at a pachinko
parlor in the city of Osaka on Sunday afternoon, police and firefighters said.
Given information from witnesses that a man around 30 years old started the
fire after spreading liquid, believed to be gasoline, and running away, the
police have started an investigation into it as a case involving murder and
arson.
The four who died were Kenichiro Nakama, 69, and three women -- one believed to
be a parlor staffer in her 20s and two customers in their 60s and 70s -- while
five of the 19 injured are in serious condition, the firefighters said.
The police are now searching for the suspect, they said.
Witnesses reported seeing one woman fleeing from the building with her back on
fire.
The pachinko parlor is located on the first floor of a six-story multi-tenant
building on a busy street in Osaka's Konohana Ward.
The suspect is believed to have entered the parlor from the main entrance,
dispersed the liquid, set fire to it and run away through another door,
according to the police.
The parlor did not have a sprinkler system installed, although it was not
legally required to do so, the firefighters said.
When the fire started around 4:10 p.m., about 100 people, including employees,
were in the parlor, while another 30 people were on the upper floors.
Around 50 fire engines and one helicopter battled the fire and extinguished it
about 25 minutes later.
==Kyodo