Three members of a family perished in a fire that destroyed their house in Shomotsuke, Tochigi Prefecture, on Thursday morning.
According to police, six people lived in the two-story wooden house and an adjacent house owned by Isamu Omori, 60.
Fuji TV reported that at around 7:40 a.m., Omori’s 52-year-old wife called 119 to report a fire. Witnesses said the fire spread quickly, engulfing the entire house and burning most of the house nextdoor.
It took firefighters about four hours to extinguish the blaze. The three dead were identified as Omori’s 89-year-old mother, his wife and his 27-year-old daughter.
Omori sustained burns and other injuries, while his 24-year-old son broke a leg after they both jumped from a second-floor window. Omori’s 90-year-old father, who lived in the house nextdoor, was not injured.
Police believe Omori’s wife, after calling 119, went back to try and help her bedridden mother-in-law who suffered from dementia, but got trapped by the fire.
The fire is believed to have started on the first floor.
Source: Japan Today Video and image: ANN
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