Huge fire in Japan kills one and forces hundreds to flee

At least one person has been killed and more than 170 buildings have been destroyed in an enormous fire in the city of Oita, southwestern Japan.

One other person was injured and almost 200 residents forced to evacuate their homes. Excluding those that started following earthquakes, the Oita blaze is estimated to be the largest urban fire in almost 50 years.

Firefighters worked for more than 12 hours to control the blaze, and the prefectural government asked the military to help tackle the inferno. The local mayor, Shinya Adachi, said on Wednesday that he did not expect further damage. More than 200 firefighters were mobilised.

Aerial view of a helicopter dropping water on a forest fire with a destroyed town in the background and a harbor.

Firefighters used helicopters to try to douse the blaze, which left acres scorched

REUTERS

Aerial view of the burnt Saganoseki district in Oita, Japan, with numerous destroyed buildings and smoke rising from some areas.

ASAHI SHIMBUN/GETTY IMAGES

It started burning out late on Tuesday afternoon in a suburb northeast of the fishing port of Saganoseki, an area surrounded by mountains about 15 miles east of the city centre.

Fuelled by strong winds, the flames eventually spread to about 12 acres. Later, huge pillars of flames and black smoke were seen rising into the night sky.

Sparks were carried aloft and ignited another blaze on the uninhabited island of Tsutashima, about a mile off the coast of Saganoseki.

Fire engulfs a district in Oita, Japan, with flames and smoke filling the night sky.

Flames rise into the night sky

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN VIA GETTY IMAGES

News helicopters surveyed the charred remnants of houses on Wednesday, when a body was recovered. Officials are trying to confirm whether it is that of a 76-year-old man who was reported missing. A woman in her fifties was taken to hospital with mild burns.

One resident told the Kyodo News agency that she fled without many of her belongings because the fire “spread in the blink of an eye”.

Power cuts affected up to 350 homes in the area.

Flames rising from a fire in Oita, Japan.

The cause of the blaze is being investigated

KYODO NEWS/AP

The burned remains of buildings in the Saganoseki district of Oita, Japan.

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN/GETTY IMAGES

“I extend my heartfelt condolences to all residents who are evacuating in the cold,” the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said in a post on X.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. It was one of the largest fires in Japan since a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Noto peninsula in January last year, and about 200 buildings were engulfed by flames.

Excluding earthquakes, it is thought to be the largest urban fire since a 1976 blaze in Sakata.