5 killed in late-night fire at Japan rice cracker factory
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TOKYO • Five people have died in a late-night blaze at a rice cracker factory in Japan, the police said yesterday, with firefighters working through the night to extinguish the inferno.
Around 30 workers were on site when fire broke out at the facility in northern Niigata prefecture just before midnight on Friday, local media reported.
The cause of the fire is unclear.
"We confirmed the death of four women in their 60s and 70s and we also found an unidentified body," a police spokesman told Agence France-Presse, without giving further details.
Public broadcaster NHK reported that two male workers were missing and officers were working to determine if the body was that of one of the missing men.
The police spokesman said the fire was put out 11 hours after it started.
The factory is owned by Sanko Seika - one of Japan's biggest rice cracker manufacturers - and operates a production line to bake the popular snacks.
Deadly fires are unusual in Japan which has strict building standards, and violent crime is rare.
In December last year, 25 people were killed in a blaze at a mental health clinic in Osaka.
A former patient of the clinic, who was suspected of starting the fire, died in the same month before police could question him.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
