Police in Japan are investigating why a man torched a renowned animation studio in Kyoto, leaving 33 people dead in the country’s worst mass killing in almost 20 years.
Officers haven’t been able to question the 41-year-old suspect, who is in hospital receiving treatment for severe burns sustained when he allegedly poured what appeared to be gasoline on Kyoto Animation and set it on fire.
A witness told police the suspect shouted “Die!” as he spilled the liquid on the building’s ground floor Thursday morning.
The man was later found to be carrying a backpack containing several knives, a Kyoto Prefecture police spokesperson said Thursday.
Twelve men, 20 women and another individual whose gender was unknown died in the blaze and 35 were injured.
It was the worst mass killing in the country since a 2001 arson attack on a building in Tokyo’s Kabukicho district, which killed 44 people. The death toll from Thursday’s fire was greater than the Tokyo sarin gas attack on a subway in 1995, which killed 13.
Explosion-like sound
The fire broke out at about 10:30 a.m. local time on Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET) in the company’s 1st Studio building in Kyoto’s Fushimi-ku district. Police said a resident reported hearing a sound like an explosion coming from the studio.
Footage from the scene showed thick smoke billowing out of the four-story building, which is located in a residential area several kilometers south of Kyoto Station, as firefighters worked to douse the flames.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tweeted that he was left speechless at the “gruesomeness of the crime,” and offered condolences to victims.
Kyoto Animation’s CEO Hideaki Yata told reporters the company had received death threats by mail, which had been sent to the police, and expressed sorrow that workers in the industry had been targeted.
“They are the people who carry the Japan’s animation industry on their shoulders. I can’t bear to accept the fact they are being hurt or losing their lives,” he said.
Founded in 1981, Kyoto Animation – known as KyoAni – has made a name for itself producing high quality animations that draw on both the mystical and the mundane.
On its website, the company said its philosophy included promoting a “humanitarian” corporate culture and “promoting the growth of people.”
There was an outpouring of grief on Twitter on Thursday with fans of the studio offering their condolences.