Tragedy in Japan: throwing naphtha into a building, set on fire and at least 33 dead

At least 33 people died and more than 30 were injured, many in serious condition, following a fire in a Kyoto cartoon studio, as reported NHK local television channel.

Local authorities confirmed the death toll of 33 dead and 36 wounded alive by emergency services and firefighters, who spent nearly five hours extinguishing the flames.

The man who caused the fire sprayed a flammable liquid that is believed to be gasoline in the building and set it on fire. The person was injured and stays in a hospital under police custody. Police are investigating the case as arson.

The fire started around 10:30 am (local time) and spread rapidly across the three floors of Kyoto Animation Animation Company's studio in Kyoto. Firefighters deployed 30 fire trucks and finally managed to extinguish the flames after 15 hours.

At the time of the fire, 73 employees were inside the building, according to the police. The building has a first floor office and a second and third cartoons production studio. On the stairs that connect the three floors, firefighters found eleven dead.

Kyoto Animation president Hidaeki Hatta told reporters that his production company had received repeated e-mails containing death threats and that whenever one of these messages was received, it was brought to the attention of lawyers. of the signature.

"We are not saying that we receive protest messages daily, but many death threats have been received by email," he said, according to local NHK television.