OSAKA: The suspect in a deadly building arson in the western Japan city of Osaka about two weeks ago died on Thursday, making it hard to unravel motives behind the attack, which killed 25 other people.

The suspect, Morio Tanimoto, who was 61, had burns on his face, arms and legs in the fire and was taken to a hospital in state of cardiopulmonary arrest. He resuscitated later but remained in a critical condition, leaving police unable to question him.

The fire occurred at a clinic in a multi-tenant building in the city’s Kita Ward in the morning of Dec. 17. Security camera footage shows that Tanimoto set the fire soon after arriving at the clinic and blocked people there from evacuating.

At the scene, 27 people were found without vital signs. Of them, 26 were discovered deep inside the clinic, and the other, Tanimoto, was lying near the entrance.

The police have so far confirmed no trouble between the clinic and the suspect, according to informed sources.

Although a diary was found where Tanimoto is believed to have lived in the same city’s Nishiyodogawa Ward, it contained nothing helpful in identifying his motives.

In the location, newspaper articles on past arson attacks, including one at a live music venue in the western city of Tokushima in March 2021 and the July 2019 attack on a studio of Kyoto Animation Co. that killed 36 people, were also discovered, along with handwritten notes reading “hoka (arson)” and “satsujin (murder).”

The police suspect that Tanimoto had been planning the attack on the clinic since at least March 2021.

JIJI Press