An arsonist burned an animation studio in Japan with the cry of "dying": there are at least 24 dead

At least 24 people were killed and about 40 were injured Thursday in the fire of an animation studio in Kyoto, western Japan. According to witnesses, a man entered the place with the cry of "dying", launched a flammable liquid and fired.

"He said & # 39;they will die"According to one of the testimonies broadcast by the NHK public television channel. AFP, the person in charge of the fire would be about 40 years old, he would have been wounded and would have been hospitalized under police surveillance.

A spokesman for the police headquarters of this Japanese city found that it was a criminal act. "A man poured a flammable liquid and started the fire"he told the French agency without giving further details.

The rescue services, which sent 35 fire trucks to the site, badured that it "many wounded". Among the most serious, many have lost consciousness, according to the authorities.

"We continue with rescue operationsevacuating people who are trapped inside, some of whom may not be able to move alone, "said another spokesman for the fire department while the building was still under fire.

The fire it was launched around 10:30 local in a headquarters of the company Kyoto Animation, which produces successful animation series for television. Three hours later, the flames were almost extinguished.

"Blind violence"

Kyoto Animation is a cartoon production company that creates characters, designs and sells derivative products of the series. About 160 people work in the company, which includes an animation school. The company owns two buildings, one of which is the Burned Building, and its headquarters are in Kyoto Prefecture.

The crime rate It is relatively weak in Japan, but from time to time the country records bloody crimes caused by the call "blind violence ", in which individuals in a moment of madness kill indiscriminately.

In July 2016, a young man stabbed 19 people deadly in a psychiatric hospital about 50 kilometers from Tokyo, the worst murder since 1938.

In 2008, a 28-year-old man, armed with a dagger and driving a truck, sowed panic in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. The result of the attack: 7 dead and 10 wounded.

In June 2001, a man killed eight children in a school in Osaka.