Five people were killed when a fire broke out at a construction site in the Karakida district of Tama, western Tokyo, on Thursday afternoon. The five people were apparently unable to escape as the site violently went up in flames.
About 40 of the 320 construction workers at the site suffered smoke inhalation, according to the Tokyo Fire Department. Among them, around 25 people were seriously injured.
The fire started at the site at around 1:50 p.m. The blaze burned about 5,000 square meters, mostly the basement floors, of the steel-frame building under construction, which has three floors each aboveground and underground. The site is about 700 meters west of Karakida Station on the Odakyu Tama Line.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the origin of the fire was in the third basement floor. Four of the victims were found on an underground floor, while one was discovered on the third floor. Two victims appear to be in their 50s.
The police department is proceeding with the confirmation of the victims' identities and investigating the safety control at the site on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
