NAGASAKI (TR) – Authorities in Nagasaki City are investigating a fire that broke out in a multi-tenant building on Wednesday, killing the proprietor of a magic-themed bar, reports Fuji News Network (Oct. 27).
At around 10:10 p.m., emergency services received a tip about “an explosion and fire coming from the second floor of a building” in the Sakamoto area.
Police and fire crews arriving at the scene found Shinpei Ogawa, the 59-year-old manager of Magic Theater, to have suffered extensive burns throughout his body. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he died at around 8:00 a.m. the following morning.
The blaze was extinguished after two and a half hours. The fire damaged approximately 340 square meters of space on the second and third floors of the building.
“There was a loud bang,” said an eyewitness. “I thought it might have been a car accident. Then flames emerged from the second floor of the building along with various things flying outside. The strength of the flames was unbelievable.”
According to the web site for Magic Theater, Ogawa performed a variety of magic tricks for customers at the bar. There were no patrons inside at the time of the incident.
From the morning of October 27, police and fire departments were scheduled to begin an investigation into the cause of the fire.
