OSAKA (TR) – An elderly woman fell to her death while fleeing from a fire that broke out insider her three-story home in Toyonaka City early Tuesday.
Around 1:30 a.m., Machiko Masuno, 70, called the fire department. “There’s a fire on the second floor and I can’t escape,” reports Mainichi Broadcasting System (Aug. 20).
According to police and other sources, 17 fire engines and other vehicles were dispatched to the residence in Shonai Higashimachi. The fire was put out about three hours later.
Masuno was later confirmed dead at a hospital. She is believed to have fallen from the second or third floor while trying to escape. She suffered a skull fracture and broken facial bones.
About 110 square meters of the home was burned, covering from the first to third floors, police said.
Masuno’s husband was sleeping on the first floor of the house at the time of the blaze. “I heard a bang on the floor above and then the fire started,” he said.
Police are currently investigating the cause of the fire.
