THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
July 3, 2023 at 19:10 JST
An explosion and fire in a multi-tenant building in Tokyo’s Shinbashi district on July 3 caused serious burns to the faces of two restaurant workers and minor injuries to two passers-by.
The fire broke out around a restaurant on the second floor of the building about 300 meters west of JR Shinbashi Station around 3:20 p.m., police said.
The explosion occurred when a restaurant worker lit a cigarette, police said, quoting that worker.
A restaurant manager in his 50s and an employee in her 50s were seriously injured. The two slightly injured male passers-by were in their 70s and 50s.
A man in his 20s who was working at an “izakaya” Japanese-style pub on the ground floor of the building said he could smell gas even when he was about 100 meters from the building on his way to work.
He said the building shook violently the moment he heard the explosion.
“It was as if a car had crashed into the building,” the man said.
Glass fragments were scattered on the road outside, and smoke was rising into the sky.
“Thank goodness, I am alive,” he said. “I thought I would die. I would have died if the ceiling had fallen off.”
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A fire rages on the second floor of a multi-tenant building in Tokyo’s Shinbashi district on July 3 immediately after an explosion was heard. (Provided by an eyewitness)
