Kyoto Animation fire: 12 feared dead after suspected arson attack on studio in Japan

[RhodeIslandOne]

Source: The Guardian

Twelve people are presumed dead, fire officials have said, and more could be missing after becoming trapped by a suspected arson attack at a renowned animation production company in Japan.

Thirty-five others have been injured, some of them critically, said Kyoto fire department official Satoshi Fujiwara.

Police in Kyoto said the fire broke out on Thursday morning at a three-storey building belonging to Kyoto Animation after a man burst in and spread an unidentified flammable liquid that set off the blaze.

The 41-year-old suspect was among the injured and has been taken to a hospital, Kyodo news agency reported.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/18/dead-suspected-arson-attack-kyoto-animation-japan

[Judi Lynn]

1. Wow. So sorry to hear this. Hope they can get the suspect to explain why he did this. Thanks. n/t

[ansible]

2. Japan has had a problem for decades with incels obsessed with anime

[JHB]

7. And what does that have to do with this?

No statement from police yet, but news reports point in the direction of the nutjob believing the studio stole his work or ideas or something.

Police detained a 41-year-old man who is believed to have spread a flammable liquid in the area. Witnesses said he ran into the building screaming, “Die.” He was injured in the incident and taken to a hospital.

A 61-year-old woman in the neighborhood said she initially mistook the suspect for a victim of the blaze. She said she opened the front entrance to her home after the interphone sounded and found a large man kneeling on the ground. Both of his arms had burns and his right leg was on fire. His hair appeared singed. The woman asked the weakened man if he was all right, but he did not respond. She used a hose to pour water on the man.

As she waited for an ambulance, a number of police officers surrounded the man and peppered him with questions about how he entered the studio and why he set it on fire, she said.

The woman said she could not catch much of what the man said, but she did clearly hear him shout, “They ripped me off.”

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201907180049.html

[samir.g]

3. This is terrible

[nitpicker]

4. BBC update: at least 23 dead

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49027178

[Dem Dean]

5. Je suis KyoAni

[nitpicker]

6. BBC radio (via PBS) speculation on cause

Their correspondent in Tokyo said there was a claim that when the suspect was being arrested by police, he said the company had stolen his work.

[JHB]

8. Update: Asahi Shimbun reports toll up to 33 dead and 17 hospitalized

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201907180088.html

KYOTO--Thirty-three people were killed and 17 others remain hospitalized after a suspected arsonist set fire to a three-story animation studio here on July 18, police and fire department officials said. Some of the 36 people injured in the fire were unconscious, according to Kyoto prefectural police.

The studio, operated by Kyoto Animation Co., is located in a residential area in Kyoto’s Fushimi Ward about 100 meters north of Rokujizo Station on Keihan Electric Railway Co.’s Uji Line. There were about 70 people in the studio at the time.
***
As [a witness] waited for an ambulance, a number of police officers surrounded the [suspected arsonist] and peppered him with questions about how he entered the studio and why he set it on fire, she said. The woman said she could not catch much of what the man said, but she did clearly hear him shout, “They ripped me off.”
***
Kyoto Animation has produced a number of popular TV anime series, such as “K-On!,” “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” and “Sound! Euphonium.” Although many major animation companies are located in the Tokyo area, Kyoto Animation has kept its base of operations in the ancient capital since its founding in 1981 because the city has accumulated a long cultural history, company officials said.

For those unfamiliar with their work, it's the sort of stuff that in the US is called "young adult fiction": high school clubs, bands, sports teams, etc., sometimes having a goal, sometimes just goofing around with friends, occasionally with supernatural or sci-fi stuff mixed in.