TOKYO: Thirty-three people have been confirmed dead after a man stormed into an animation production studio in the western Japanese city of Kyoto, screaming “Die!” and setting it on fire, authorities said.
Thirty-six people were also injured and about 10 of them were in critical condition, according to local authorities.
The 41-year-old man has been taken into custody and told police he had scattered “fluid like petrol” at the site, Kyodo News agency reported, citing local authorities.
The man was being treated in hospital for burns on his face and chest.
Firefighters found many bodies on the second floor of the three-storey studio of Kyoto Animation, where about 70 people were believed to have been working when the fire broke out.
The fire started “at the core of the company,” Kyoto Animation president Hideaki Hatta told reporters. “This may be a pompous way of saying, but even if one person who will lead Japan’s animation industry was hurt, it is absolutely unbearable.” Hatta added the company had often received threatening emails. See p5
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