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Osaka police hunt for man after bar fight ends with customer strangled to death

Osaka police in Nishi Ward
Osaka police are hunting for a man who fatally strangled a customer at a bar in Nishi Ward on Friday

OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police are searching for a man who fatally strangled a male customer of a bar in Nishi Ward on Friday after the pair got into a dispute, reports Jiji Press (Dec. 3).

At 9:20 p.m., the suspect entered the izakaya bar, located in the Chiyozaki area, and accosted 65-year-old Shigeaki Naragi. “Where are the young people?” the man said to Naragi in getting close to him.

Naragi, who is a regular customer, and the man exited the bar and began to fight. According to a staff member of the establishment, the man jumped atop Naragi and strangled him before fleeing the scene in a taxi.

Naragi, who was vomiting blood and suffered chest injuries, died at a hospital on Sunday morning. An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be brain damage from lack of oxygen, according to the Nishi Police Station.

Standing up to 175 centimeters in height, the perpetrator has a strong build, police said. At the time, he was wearing a black jacket and trousers.

Police are seeking his whereabouts on suspicion of murder.