After the devastating fire disaster in a psychiatric clinic in Osaka, Japan, with two dozen dead, more and more details about the alleged arsonist are known.
Osaka – As Japanese media reported on Monday, citing investigation circles, the 61-year-old Japanese had apparently carefully planned the act. Last month, for example, he is said to have bought gasoline from a gas station and had a lighter and a spray can with him. Although an arrest warrant has not yet been issued against him, the police have already disclosed the suspect’s identity, including full name and age. He is currently in hospital with serious injuries, including burns to the windpipe.
In the fire on the fourth floor of a skyscraper in the metropolis of millions, 24 people – 10 women and 14 men – were killed on Friday. A total of 27 victims were taken to the hospital, including the alleged arsonist. The police found his patient card for the psychiatric clinic, it said. The metal worker is said to have worked with interruptions at a factory in Osaka until eleven years ago and was considered a hardworking and conscientious employee. In 2010 he resigned and there has been no contact with him since then, the ex-employer was quoted as saying.
According to the investigators’ findings so far, the suspect had parked two paper bags with a liquid near a heater in the reception area of the clinic’s waiting room. Then he kicked her and set the leaking liquid on fire, Japanese media reported. It is said to have been flammable oil or gasoline. At the scene of the accident, the emergency services found traces of it, it said. The fire spread over an area of around 25 square meters. The 24 fatalities, several of which are not yet identified according to reports on Monday, may have died of carbon monoxide poisoning, it said. (dpa)
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