TOKYO (AP) — More than 20 people were feared dead after a fire broke out Friday in a building in Osaka in western Japan, officials said, and police were investigating arson as a possible cause. The fire started on the fourth floor of an eight-story building in the major business, shopping and entertainment area of Kitashinchi, Osaka fire department official Akira Kishimoto said. Many of the victims are believed to be visitors at the clinic on the fourth floor, fire department officials said. People on other floors of the building were believed to have been safely evacuated, Kishimoto said. NHK quoted a witness as saying she heard a woman’s voice coming from the fourth floor calling for help.

Source: Egypt Independent December 17, 2021 08:54 UTC