Probe of Tokyo Fire That Killed 44 Begins

More than 150 investigators began a probe into a devastating fire in Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment and sex-trade neighborhood that killed 44 people early Saturday.

Authorities said they were focusing on a possible gas leak or arson at the building in the popular nightclub area of the Shinjuku district in central Tokyo.

Fire experts said the narrow building, typical of thousands in Japanese cities, had only one small staircase illegally crowded with lockers.

Windows meant to provide emergency exits in case of fire were covered by signs advertising the mah-jongg parlor and hostess bar where most of the victims died.

An explosion ripped a large hole in the wall of the building, and fire gutted the third and fourth floors, causing panic in the narrow, crowded streets.

As the scope of the tragedy became clear, attention focused on the reason for such a high death toll in a country with strict fire codes because of the devastating blazes that have accompanied major earthquakes.

“If the emergency fire hatches had operated properly, it would not have been this bad,” a fire official said at a news conference.

The lockers on the staircase made the rescue operation difficult, and the second and third floors of the four-story building were not equipped with emergency ladders, in violation of fire laws, officials said.

Police said 32 of the dead were men and 12 women. Twenty-eight were in the fourth floor bar, which featured hostesses in high school uniforms.

The Tokyo Fire Department plans to launch an emergency inspection of at least 4,000 structures in the city beginning Monday.