Japan: 27 Feared Dead as Fire Breaks out in Commercial Building in Osaka

A fire in a building in downtown Osaka, Japan, is thought to have killed at least 27 people, according to the BBC.

According to public broadcaster NHK, the Japanese police are investigating if the fire was intentionally caused. According to accounts, the inpiduals died of cardiopulmonary arrest, a term that is frequently used in preliminary reports before death is formally confirmed.

After dozens of firefighters extinguished the blaze on the fourth store, footage showed scorched windows. All of those believed to be deceased were said to be at a psychiatric clinic on the building’s fourth store, which is located in a popular business and entertainment sector.

On Friday, shortly after 10:00 a.m. local time (01:00 a.m. GMT), emergency services were notified. "There was a lot of dark smoke," one witness told NHK, adding, "and a very strong scent."

Another eyewitness claimed to have seen a woman in the building yelling for assistance. "I noticed orange flames at the fourth-floor window when I peeked outside," she told Kyodo News. "From the sixth level, a woman was waving her hands for assistance."

Firefighters used ladders to remove some of the occupants from the structure. According to the local fire brigade, the blaze was successfully doused within half an hour after it burned across an area of around 20 sq m (215 sq ft).

Other floors in the building, as well as any neighboring homes, have not been harmed.

Last year, a man set fire to a film studio in Kyoto, killing 36 people, in one of Japan’s deadliest mass fatality episodes since World War II.