At least 27 people were feared dead after a fire in a psychiatric clinic in Osaka, western Japan, with police reportedly investigating arson as a possible cause.
The blaze started on the fourth floor of an eight-story building in the shopping and entertainment area of Kitashinchi, Osaka city fire department official Akira Kishimoto said.
Twenty-eight people were affected, 27 of whom were found in a state of cardiac arrest.
Nine people were confirmed dead at hospital.
According to media reports, police were investigating suspected arson, including reports that a man started the fire in the building.
An elderly man, thought to be a patient, brought in a bag that leaked flammable liquid and was ignited, claimed local media. This was not confirmed by police.
People on the other floors of the building are thought to have been evacuated.
In all, 70 fire engines were mobilised to fight the fire, which broke out at 10am (1am GMT) and was largely extinguished within 30 minutes.
The father of a doctor who ran the clinic was not able to reach his son by mobile phone.
"Around noon I heard there was news of a fire on television and was surprised. My wife went to the site but we still don't know what's going on. I can't get through to my son's phone,” he said.
Video showed smoke pouring out of the windows of the fourth floor, where the clinic was located, as well as the roof of the multi-storey office building.
"When I looked outside I saw orange flames in the fourth-floor window of the building. A woman was waving her hands for help from the sixth floor window," a 36-year-old woman who works at a company nearby told the Kyodo news agency.
Located not far from Osaka's main train station, the building also houses a beauty salon, a clothes shop and an English-language school.
