Fire departments across Japan have been directed to inspect some 30,000 multi-story commercial buildings that have only one staircase, he added.
The 61-year-old suspect was a patient of the clinic and is in a critical condition in hospital, public broadcaster NHK said. The man’s name has been released and published in Japanese media, an unusual step when there has not yet been an arrest.
The fire is among Japan’s deadliest in memory, following an arson attack at an animation studio in Kyoto in 2019 that killed 36 people. A 2001 fire at a building in Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment district killed 44 people.
Reuters