SAPPORO -- Eleven people were killed late Wednesday night in a fire at a residential facility for financially disadvantaged people in Higashi Ward, Sapporo.
A passerby made an emergency call at about 11:40 p.m. Wednesday, reporting that smoke was billowing out of the first floor of the Soshiaru Haimu facility. The two-story wooden building, with an area of about 400 square meters, was totally destroyed by the blaze.
The bodies of 11 people in their 40s to 80s -- eight men and three women -- were found at the site after the fire. Three others in their 50s to 80s suffered burns and were taken to a hospital. Their conditions are not life-threatening, according to sources.
The Sapporo Higashi Police Station and the Sapporo Fire Bureau are working to identify the victims and determine the cause of the fire.
According to the fire bureau, the second floor collapsed, and all of the 11 bodies were found on the first floor. The fire burned fiercely in the central part of the first floor, it said.
The police station said 16 people, including elderly residents, lived at the facility, and that no staffers were stationed there at night. When the facility was inspected based on the Fire Service Law in 2014, it was discovered that it had failed to report checks of its firefighting equipment and that it had not put up signs indicating dangerous items, according to the fire bureau. There were also no sprinklers.
Soshiaru Haimu was operated by Nanmosa Support, an entity based in Kita Ward, Sapporo. It was formerly a Japanese-style inn, but began to be used as a living facility for people with financial difficulties and others about a decade ago.
According to sources, the residents lived in private rooms on the first and second floors. The first floor housed a dining room, kitchen and bathroom. Each room had a kerosene stove, and several kerosene reservoirs were stored on the first floor.
According to Noriyoshi Fujimoto, the 68-year-old head of Nanmosa Support, many of the victims who died in the fire lived on the second floor. The facility had three fire extinguishers on the first floor and four on the second floor, he said.
Monthly residential fees were 36,000 yen. Thirteen of the 16 residents were on welfare.
Established in February 2007, Nanmosa Support aims to help financially struggling people while also engaging in the house rental and lodging businesses, according to an official register.
Akio Watanabe, the 68-year-old deputy head of the entity, told the Yomiuri Shimbun, "We provide the residents with three meals a day."
The city government has suspected Soshiaru Haimu of being an unauthorized paid nursing home. It sent a list of inquiries to Nanmosa Support four times from August 2016 regarding the conditions for a paid nursing home, including residents aged 60 or older, and the presence of services such as meals and cleaning.
However, the city government received no response from Nanmosa Support. Paid nursing facilities are required to install sprinklers and other equipment.
The facility was located in a residential area about 1.5 kilometers from JR Sapporo Station.
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