Japan govt announces plans to check 30,000 buildings nationwide after Osaka arson incident

The Japanese government has announced plans to check tens of thousands of buildings across the country after fire engulfed an 8-storey clinic in Osaka that killed at least 24 people on Friday, December 17.

Yasushi Kaneko, the minister in charge of internal affairs and communications, as well as fire and disaster management, said that he has ordered a nationwide investigation of around 30,000 commercial buildings with three or more storeys but just a single stairway, reported Associated Press (AP). Meanwhile, the police have also identified a 61-year-old male patient as the prime suspect for setting fire at the clinic.

The Osaka investigation team searched the house of the suspect after they found the man's registration card for the clinic during a search of a place related to him. According to the investigation team, the suspect has been identified as Morio Tanimoto, one of the three survivors who are still in critical condition. An official at the prefectural police investigation department claimed that after checking the security camera and inspecting Tanimoto's house, it was established that he was the one who set fire at the facility.

Fire was doused within 30 minutes of the incident

According to Kyodo News, Tanimoto was a retired clinic worker. He was described as a dedicated and skilled worker by his former employer at a factory where he worked from 2002 until 2010.

Authorities are looking into how the smoke filled the floor so rapidly that entrapped the victims. They stated that the fire that had scorched just about 25 square metres of the floor near the reception was doused within 30 minutes with the help of more than 70 fire engines, reported AP. 

It should be mentioned here that an attacker invaded the Kyoto Animation studio in 2019 and set it on fire, killing 36 people and injuring several others. The incident had stunned Japan, and anime fans all across the world expressed their sorrow. Apart from this, a deliberate attempt to set ablaze a building in Tokyo's Kabukicho killed 44 people in 2001, making it the country's worst recorded case of arson in modern times.

(With inputs from AP)

Image: AP