UPDATED: More than 20 people are feared to have died Thursday in an arson attack on the Kyoto Animation company in Japan, shocking a nation in which extreme violence is very rare.
Emergency services in Kyoto City received a call about 10:35 a.m. local time Thursday reporting an explosion on the first floor of the studio. The blaze quickly spread across the whole of the three-story building.
Local media reports said a man was seen inside the building spraying a flammable liquid, shouting, “Die!” and then igniting the fluid. The man, 41, was injured and is now in police custody. He reportedly admitted setting the fire. Multiple knives were found at the scene, but it is not known if they were his.
Police have confirmed the deaths of 16 people as well as a number of injuries. But the final death toll is likely to exceed 20.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK said that the bodies of 12 people were found on the first and second floors.
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The fire department said that an additional 10 people found on the third floor and on the stairs were in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest.
About 70 people were inside the building at the time of the blaze. About 30 are still unaccounted for, though that figure may include the dozen fatalities.
Kyoto Animation, better known as KyoAn, has been in operation since 1981 and is known as a producer of high-quality animation. These include TV series “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” and “K-On!” The studio’s series adaptation of the “Tsurune” novel, written by Kotoko Ayano, recently completed airing on NHK.
While the number of casualties was still being assessed, many began searching for a motive behind the attack. Japanese media said the suspected arsonist is not known to have any connection with the company.
Speaking to reporters, KyoAn president Hideaki Hatta said that the company had received regular death threats over the years. “These included recent emails sent to the sales department saying that we should die,” he said.
Japan is used to natural disasters, with both earthquakes and tsunami waves as regular occurrences. But terrorism and extreme violence are very rare. If the body count in Kyoto is confirmed, that would put it on a par with the infamous sarin gas attack on the Tokyo Metro in 1995 by members of the Aum Shinrikyo movement. That killed 12 people at the time, with another victim later dying after years of hospitalization.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led an outpouring of public grief and sympathy. “Today, in the arson murder spree in Kyoto, there are many casualties. I’m speechless. I pray for the souls of those who have passed away. I would like to express my condolences to all of the injured and wish them a speedy recovery,” he said in Japanese on Twitter.