Feb 13 (NHK) - A fire broke out late Friday night at a confectionery factory in the central Japanese prefecture of Niigata, leaving at least five people dead.
The whereabouts of some other employees remain unknown, but the search has been suspended due to fears of a secondary disaster.
Firefighters were alerted shortly before midnight on Friday to the fact that the Arakawa plant of Sanko Seika in Murakami City was on fire. The blaze was put out about 11 hours later, although a building on the south side of the plant burned down.
Police say four female part-time cleaning workers in their 60s to 70s were confirmed dead, while another body was found in the ruins.
Police have not been able to contact two male employees in their 20s. They believe the body belongs to one of them and are trying to identify the remains.
Police and firefighting authorities say there is a danger that the remaining structures may collapse, so the search operation was suspended until Sunday morning.
Police and the confectionery maker say around 30 people were working in the building where the fire started and were taking a break of around an hour.
A person who was in the factory at the time of the fire says that something might have fallen onto a grill on the production line and caught fire.
Police are investigating the cause of the fire and how the workers were evacuated.
Source: ANNnewsCH
