Bodies of 4 people found at warehouse fire site

NHK -- Jul 06

Police in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, say they have found the bodies of four people at the site of a warehouse fire.

They believe they are three firefighters and one police officer, who had been unaccounted for after rushing into the building shortly after the fire broke out.

Local firefighting authorities say that shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, they received a report from a security firm that the factory warehouse of a commodities manufacturer, LEC, was on fire in the town of Yoshida.

The fire burned the two-story, 7,000-square-meter warehouse for 16 hours before being extinguished.

The bodies were found on the second floor of the warehouse. Police are trying to identify them.

Three other people were slightly injured with burns.

Police and the Tokyo head office of the company say the warehouse was used to store sponge, sodium bicarbonate and other raw materials.

The office says employees packed raw materials into bags in the warehouse, but that no one was working there at the time of the fire.

Police and firefighters are investigating the cause of the fire.

The company says nothing spontaneously combustible was stored in the building.

Jul 06 (ANNnewsCH) - 静岡県吉田町で起きた倉庫火災で、倉庫の2階から4人の遺体が発見されました。  5日午前1時半すぎ、吉田町の「レック静岡」の倉庫から「白煙が出ている」と警備会社から消防に通報がありました。消防などによりますと、火の勢いが弱かった午前2時すぎ、吉田消防署の消防隊員3人と牧之原警察署の巡査長の合わせて4人が現場の状況を確認するため倉庫の1階に入りましたが、15分後に無線が途絶えました。出火から13時間余り経って倉庫の2階部分から4人の遺体が見つかり、警察は不明の4人とみて身元の確認を進めています。倉庫の内部は重量シャッターで仕切られているため消火活動は難航し、半日以上経った今も鎮火していません。 [