Tokyo building hit by ‘tremendous explosion’, 4 people injured
- The blast occurred at an eatery on the second floor of an eight-story building, injuring 2 people inside and 2 pedestrians who were hit by shards of glass, officials said
- The cause of the blast was not immediately clear but witnesses said they had smelled gas before the explosion
Four people were injured on Monday after a suspected gas explosion at a bar in a building in Tokyo’s Shimbashi district caused a fire and left the surrounding area covered in debris.
The blast shattered windows and spewed smoke, officials said.
Fire engines arrived at the scene, located in an area full of restaurants and offices, after an eyewitness made an emergency call to police at around 3:15pm. Three of the four injured people, including the owner of the bar, are believed to be seriously hurt, police said.
A higher-than-usual gas concentration level was detected in the bar on the building’s second floor, said the police, suspecting a gas leak took place.
The bar’s 52-year-old owner was also quoted as telling the police: “I thought I could smell something like gas or sewage in the smoking area, and when I used a lighter to light a cigarette, there was this explosion.”
The business had yet to open and there were no customers inside. The fire has been nearly extinguished, according to the Tokyo Fire Department.
Apart from the business owner, a woman in her 50s who works at the bar and was inside at the time was hurt, as were two men in their 50s and 70s passing by the scene. The two men appear to have been injured by falling glass shards.