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Tokyo warehouse fire kills 3, affects flights at nearby airport

Feb 16 (Kyodo) - A fire broke out at a warehouse in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon leaving three men dead and another man injured, while some flights at nearby Haneda airport were also disrupted by the incident.

Firefighters received an emergency call at around 1:25 p.m. reporting a fire at a warehouse of a subsidiary of major Japanese seafood company Maruha Nichiro Corp. The fire was nearly extinguished about five and a half hours later.

The five-story warehouse, located in an industrial area of Ota Ward along Tokyo Bay, has been used by Maruha Nichiro Logistics Inc. for storing frozen food products, according to its parent company.

A plumber was welding pipes when the fire broke out, the company said. Police are continuing to investigate the cause.

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