“You die”, a man was screaming and fired up a flammable liquid at the door of an animation studio in the Japanese city of Kyoto, result in at least 33 deaths and injured dozens. Authorities said that that explosive blaze consumed the three stored building quickly. Mikihide Daikoku from the Kyoto fire department said that 36 more people are injured and ten among them are already in very critical condition. Videos from the eyewitness smartphones showed huge thick black clouds of smoke billowing from the building.
The identity and actual motive of the suspect is yet a mystery. The man who is suspected was being treated for injuries and he sustained himself in the fire. But he was neither a former nor a present employee of this Kyoto Animation Company.
The company is known by KyoAni and a renowned producer of hit Television series. It was founded in 1981 and it has a worldwide fan base.
How did the Kyoto incident open out?
The fire spread out at the three stored building at about local time at 10:30 on Tuesday. And the rescue operations are still continuing!
According to a local media, police also found knives at the place. Public broadcaster NHK said that the man who set fire to the building had been heard by saying “drop dead”. But the relationship between the man and the animation company is still unclear.
“I saw some people with burns, covered with something. They were rushed to the ambulance,”- according to a neighbor.
Kazuhiro Hayashi, the official shared that most of the casualties were on the stairs to the top floor as they were trying to escape. According to the firefighters, they found 33 dead bodies, two on the first floor, 20 on the stairs from the third floor to the top floor, and 11 on the second floor.
Apart from this, 36 people are in hospital and ten among them are in critical condition. Near about 70 people were inside the three-storied building during the incident.
Who is the suspect?
According to the reporters, the man is not connected to this animation studio as he is neither a present nor a former employee. But eyewitnesses said he appeared very angry with the studio. They also said that he ran away from the animation building towards a nearby train station after engaging fire but fell to the ground. Kyoto animation employees chased him, according to some reporters.
A 59-year-old woman living nearby told news agency Kyodo said. “A person with singed hair was lying down and there were bloody footprints“.
Another neighbor added, “He seemed to be in pain, irritated and suffering, but also angry as if he was resentful. I heard him saying something like ‘You copied it “.
NHK said that the suspected is injured and his treatment is on the process, so police cannot question him immediately.
Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported that he brought 40 liters petrol from a nearby petrol pump and used two containers to carry. Later these containers found at the scene of the fire.
Director Hideaki Hatta said that the company was getting threatening emails recently. “They were addressed to our office and sales department and told us to die,”- he said.
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