Tokyo (dpa) – More than two dozen people were feared dead after a fire broke out in a high-rise building in Japan on Friday.
Twenty-seven people were diagnosed with «cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest» following the fire in Osaka, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported.
The phrase is commonly used in Japan before deaths are officially confirmed.
The fire, the cause of which is as yet unexplained, broke out within a medical clinic on the fourth floor of a building near the Osaka train station.
Police suspect the blaze was arson, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported, citing investigation sources.
Firefighters were called at around 10:20 am (0120 GMT) and the fire was nearly extinguished by around 10:45 am, the local fire department was quoted by Kyodo as saying.
«When I looked outside [from my nearby office], I saw an orange flame in the window on the fourth floor of the building,» a witness told Kyodo.
«A woman was waving her hand from the window on the sixth floor and seeking help.»
The incident occurred in Osaka’s Kitashinchi district where a number of high-end bars and nightclubs are located, Kyodo said.
By Lars Nicolaysen, dpa