At least three people died and more casualties were feared in an explosion that wrecked the fourth floor of an office building in central Japan on Tuesday where a man had taken eight hostages, an official said.
”At least three people are believed to have died,” said a local government official at the fire bureau in Nagoya, 270km southwest of Tokyo.
”The number [of dead] is likely to rise,” he said adding 15 people had also been injured.
”We have yet to confirm this fully, but the three are likely to be the culprit, the branch manager taken hostage and a policeman.”
The blast, caught by television cameras that had been monitoring the hostage situation, happened shortly after 1pm (4am GMT), blowing out the windows of the fourth-floor offices of a courier firm and showering glass and documents on to the street.
Black smoke belched from the office as fire hoses were immediately directed into the shattered windows. There was no immediate word on casualties among those believed to be held inside.
At least one man in shirt sleeves was seen on television being pulled out of a window alive by firemen using a ladder.
The Nagoya fire department and local police were unable to give any details, but Jiji Press agency said seven hostages had been released before the blast, although the branch manager was believed to have been kept captive.
Shortly past 10am, a man identified as Noboru Beppu (52), a contract worker for the Keikyubin Keikyubin carrier service firm, entered the company’s office demanding payment of unpaid wages, Aichi prefectural police said.
Beppu was armed with a knife and a bow and arrows, Jiji, Japan Broadcasting Corp and other media said.
Reports said eight male employees were taken hostage after the female staff were allowed to leave.
One male employee sustained a slight injury to his neck after he tried to restrain the man, the spokesperson said, adding that the worker was taken to hospital.
The hostage-taker scattered fuel inside the office, threatening to set fire to the office, the spokesperson said, without elaborating further.
Officials at Keikyubin, which is based in Nagoya, could not comment immediately on the incident.
In March, Japanese court handed a death sentence to a man who spread fuel oil and burned a consumer loan office in 2001, killing five workers and injuring several others at the office. — Sapa-AFP