Dozens Hurt in Suspected Arson Fire at Japanese Anime Studio

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Dozens of people were injured in a blaze at a Japanese animation studio in Kyoto on Thursday and the police were treating the fire as arson, news media in Japan reported.

More than 30 people were injured in the blaze, some of whom were reported to be unconscious, and several people were feared to have been killed, Japan’s NHK public broadcaster reported, citing the police and rescuers.

The police arrested a 41-year-old man who was suspected to have set the fire after spreading a liquid, according to news reports. The man was under treatment at a hospital.

The blaze, which started around 10:30 a.m., occurred at Kyoto Animation, a company known for producing shows and movies including “Full Metal Panic,” “K-On” and “Clannad,” among other works.

Kyoto Animation was founded by Yoko Hatta and her husband, Hideaki Hatta, in 1981, and most of the studio’s production takes place in the building that was the site of Thursday’s fire.

The blaze came less than two months after a man went on a stabbing rampage in a suburb outside Tokyo, attacking 17 schoolgirls, killing one of them as well as an adult. The rampage by the 51-year-old man cast attention to the phenomenon of Japan’s “hikikomori,” adults who are extreme recluses, and their psychological issues.

Footage of Thursday’s attack from a local TV station showed black smoke rippling out of windows of the three-story building, with one side of the building mostly charred black.



Source : Nytimes