27 feared dead in building fire in Japan's Osaka

Twenty-seven people were feared dead after a blaze swept through a commercial building housing a mental health clinic in the Japanese city of Osaka on Friday, fire officials said.

TV footage showed dozens of firefighters working inside and outside the narrow office building after the blaze was extinguished.

The charred interior of the fourth floor, which housed a clinic that provided mental health services and general medical care, was visible through broken and blackened windows.

An Osaka police spokesman said that officers were investigating the cause of the fire.

But he could not confirm a report by a public broadcaster citing police sources as saying there was the "possibility of an arson attack, given the circumstances at the scene".

An Osaka fire department official said that 27 of the 28 people injured in the blaze showed no signs of life. In Japan, only a doctor can officially certify someone dead.

"The fire was detected at (01:18 GMT) on the fourth floor," they said. "As of noon, 70 fire engines are at the scene."

The blaze, in a busy business area near Kitashinchi train station in the city in western Japan, had been put out after half an hour, the official said.

While most of the building's exterior remained intact after the fire, a middle-aged woman at the scene said: "There was lots of dark smoke... there was a very strong smell, too."

A young woman who witnessed the fire also told the broadcaster she had seen a woman trapped on the fourth floor.