OSAKA -- Two people were killed early April 30 in a fire that destroyed a wooden dormitory for employees of a construction company in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture.
The blaze started shortly after 2 a.m. and destroyed the dormitory, which was owned by Shiraishi Construction Co., police said. The cause of the fire has not been determined.
Two bodies, identified as those of Yoshitaka, Keage, 32, an employee of the firm, and Ihoe Ayabe, 84, caretaker of the dormitory, were found in the gutted structure. When the fire broke out, there were eight people in the building, investigators said. The dormitory, which had a total floor space of 370 sq. meters, was located in a residential area west of Okamachi Station on the Hankyu Takarazuka Line.