OSAKA: Ten people were killed and eight were injured on early Friday after a fire occurred at a hospital in the southwestern Japanese city of Fukuoka, China’s Xinhua news agency reported quoting local officials as saying.
The fire broke out at around 2:20 am local time at the orthopedic hospital in Hakata Ward of the city and instantly spread several floors in the four-storey building, according to a statement released by Fukuoka Fire Prevention Bureau.
The fire bureau said the fire was extinguished by its teams about three hours after they received the first emergency call for help, but 10 people including eight inpatients and two hospital workers were confirmed dead in the fire.
The fire department added that eight people, including elderly patients, were also carried to nearby hospitals where they have been treated for multiple injuries.
Local media cited police officials as saying that the fire started from the ground floor of the ferroconcrete building which was totally destroyed by the incident and a joint police and fire department investigation into the cause of the fire is expected to start in the afternoon.
The fire bureau told Xinhua that a total of 37 fire engines and ambulances, and about 100 firefighters were despatched to control the blaze. – Bernama