GUNMA (TR) – Gunma Prefectural Police have arrested a 32-year-old man for allegedly starting a fire at his residence in Maebashi City that killed his mother and uncle, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Aug. 13).
At around 9:50 p.m. on August 12, a passerby to the the two-story residence, located in the Aonashimachi area, tipped off the local fire department about the blaze.
About ten fire trucks that arrived at the scene extinguished the blaze about about two hours. The house was burned to the ground, the Maebashi Police Station said.
Emergency personnel found the bodies of Sadao Sakurai, 71, and his sister Matsuyo Hagiwara, 68, within the destroyed structure.
Police later accused Hagiwara’s son, Yukihiro, of no known occupation, of arson. “I set fire to a leaflet inside a closet,” the suspect was quoted by police. He was sent to prosecutors on August 14.
The suspect shared the residence with his mother and uncle. Prior to the incident, he got into a dispute with his mother, police said.
Police are now seeking a motive for the crime.
