NHK

Night fire kills 5 in northern Japan, arson suspected

A predawn fire killed five people in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan, on Thursday. Police are investigating with the possibility of arson in mind.

A fire station in the town of Rokunohe received an emergency call at around 1 a.m. on Thursday about a house on fire. The blaze was put out five hours later, but the two-story wooden house had burned down. Police found five bodies in the wreckage.

The police say a total of eight people from four generations lived in the house: Jumonji Toshimi, his wife, their second daughter, her husband and their three children, and Jumonji's 88-year-old mother-in-law. When the fire broke out, seven of them were at home. The daughter's husband was away for work.

Jumonji, who is 68, and two of his teenage grandchildren managed to escape the fire and survive.

But four family members remain unaccounted for: Jumonji's mother-in-law, wife, daughter, and 9-year-old granddaughter. The police say they may be among the five dead.

They say the fifth body appears to be that of someone outside the family. Investigators are working to identify all the bodies.

The police say the intense force of the fire points to the possibility of arson.

Source: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230413_45/