TOKYO: A fire that broke out at an elementary school in Tokyo on Friday injured around 10 people, including children, media reports said.

Thick black smoke billowed from a top-floor window after the blaze reportedly started in a music room at Takinogawa Dai-san School in the Kita area of the Japanese capital.

All pupils and staff were evacuated safely and the blaze was extinguished after around three hours, with 75 fire engines and dozens of firefighters at the scene.

Most of the 10 injured suffered from smoke inhalation, Kyodo News reported, adding that four people had to be rescued from inside the school building.

An AFP journalist said helicopters flew overhead as parents rushed to pick up frightened children.

One witness told how children escaped out of windows to a concrete ledge below, before fire crews brought them to safety using ladders.

A child in the sixth grade described how she and her classmates, who were two rooms away from the music room, suddenly smelled smoke.

“We thought maybe someone was cooking… Then the siren went off,” she said.

She told how they ran down the stairs, covering their mouths with handkerchiefs, and evacuated to the schoolyard.

“Then we saw the music room already burning with flames. There’s a multi-purpose room next to it, and we heard a bang from around the area between the multi-purpose room and the music room.

“It was scary, and a lot of kids were crying,” she said.

AFP