Firefighters working outside of an building in Osaka, Japan, where a fire broke out on Dec. 17. Photo: Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images
At least 24 people died after a fire broke out in an eight-story building in downtown Osaka, Japan, on Friday, according to AP.
The big picture: Police are treating the blaze as a possible case of arson. The fire originated in a mental and internal medicine clinic on the fourth floor of the building.
- It was one of the deadliest fires Japan has seen in the last two decades, the Washington Post reports. A 2001 blaze in Tokyo's Shinjuku district left 44 people dead. In 2019, an arson attack on an animation studio killed 36.
Details: Fire officials responding at the scene found 27 people incapacitated. At least three of them were resuscitated but are in serious condition.
- Many of the victims were believed to have been visiting the clinic at the time.
- Fire officials rescued several people on other floors of the building.