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Tokyo cops arrest love hotel employee for arson

Fire crews working to extinguish the blaze at the Golden Gate Hotel
Fire crews working to extinguish the blaze at the Golden Gate Hotel in January

TOKYO (TR) – Following a fire that broke out at a love hotel in Shinjuku Ward last month, Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 34-year-old male employee on charges of arson, reports NHK (Feb. 24).

On the afternoon of January 9, Ryo Otaki allegedly started a fire inside a vacant second-floor room of the Hotel Golden Gate, which is located in the Kabukicho red-light district.

Otaki, who is a manager of the hotel, denies the charges.

The blaze was extinguished by personnel from approximately 22 fire trucks about 40 minutes after it began. The fire consumed approximately 20 square meters of the one room.

There were no injuries to any of the seven people inside the building at the time of the blaze.

Otaki became a person of interest for the police after security camera footage showed him entering the room where the fire started just prior to when it started.