IBARAKI (TR) – Ibaraki Prefectural Police are questioning a man after the bodies believed to be that of his wife and four of their children were found inside a burned-out apartment in Hitachi City on Friday, reports NHK (Oct. 6).
According to police, a fire broke out inside inside the unit, located on the ground floor of a three-floor concrete structure in the town of Tajiricho, at just past 5:00 a.m.
Firefighters arriving at the scene extinguished the blaze, which started in the kitchen, and found the bodies of the woman and four children inside. Another child was rushed to a hospital in a state of cardiac arrest.
The woman lives in the apartment with her five children, police said.
After the fire started, the man arrived at the Hitachi Police Station to report the outbreak of the fire. “I set fire to the apartment with my wife and five children inside,” the man said. He is now undergoing questioning in the matter.
Police are now seeking to confirm the identity of the bodies.
Update: The child in cardiac arrest has also been confirmed dead, reports TV Asahi (Oct. 6).
