TOKYO – A fire ripped through more than 170 buildings and killed one person in a southern Japanese coastal city on Nov 19, with military and firefighting helicopters scrambling to extinguish the country’s largest urban blaze in almost half a century.
Aerial footage from broadcasters showed houses reduced to rubble and thick plumes of smoke rising from the hilly Saganoseki district of Oita city, which overlooks a fishing harbour renowned for its premium Seki-brand mackerel.
The flames had also spread to nearby forested slopes and an uninhabited island more than 1km off the coast, most likely owing to strong winds, the local media reported.
The blaze started on Nov 18 evening and has burned 48,900 sq m – roughly the size of seven football fields – forcing 175 residents in the district, some 770km south-west of Tokyo, to flee to an emergency shelter, Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, the agency added.
Smoke rising from a site where a massive fire blazed through at least 170 buildings in Oita, Japan, on Nov 19.
PHOTO: REUTERS
One person has been found dead, the local media reported citing police sources, while a woman in her 50s was reported to be hospitalised for mild burns.
“I extend my heartfelt condolences to all residents who are evacuating in the cold,” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in a post on X.
“The government will provide the maximum possible support in collaboration with local authorities,” she wrote.
The fire has caused power outages in around 300 houses in the district, according to Kyushu Electric Power.
The number of buildings and size of the area engulfed in flames make it the largest urban fire in Japan since a 1976 blaze in Sakata city, excluding incidents caused by earthquakes.
In 2016, a fire in Itoigawa city burned 147 buildings and about 40,000 sq m. No one was killed. REUTERS
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