As many as 11 individuals, including eight children, sustained injuries in a fire that broke out at an elementary school in Tokyo, Japan. The incident, which occurred in the Kita Ward, resulted in most of the injured individuals suffering from smoke inhalation, while two students suffered broken arms and a female teacher sustained a fractured pelvis. The fire, reported around 11 am local time, originated in a storage room adjacent to the school’s music classroom and was extinguished by approximately 1:45 pm local time, as per Japan-based Kyodo News.
No sprinkler system was present in the room where the fire started, with classes in progress at the time of the incident. Fifth-grade students, including the eight injured children, were inside the music classroom when the fire erupted. Firefighters rescued three students and a female teacher. All students were safely evacuated to the schoolyard, according to Kyodo News. An 11-year-old student who witnessed the fire during class described the situation as “very scary,” despite efforts to maintain calm.
In a separate incident earlier in February, a fire at a temple in Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan, claimed the lives of five individuals. The fire, which occurred in Shimonoseki, a two-storey wooden temple with adjacent residential areas, resulted in the destruction of three buildings, including the temple’s main hall and residential quarters. Local authorities discovered the bodies of the five victims at the scene. Investigations by local police and fire departments are ongoing to determine the cause of the fire.
In January, a house fire in Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, led to the deaths of two individuals. The house where the fire originated was completely destroyed, and the flames spread to neighboring houses, causing disruptions to rail services temporarily. Thick smoke also affected a nearby train station.
