A Hiroshima maid cafe that burned down last Thursday, killing three people, had defied five warnings from authorities to conduct anti-disaster drills, it has been learned.
The Kuroneko (Black Cat) Maid Cafe, occupying the first and second floors of a building in a busy entertainment district in Hiroshima's Naka Ward, had been inspected by fire authorities on three occasions in 2007 and twice more in 2011. It was equipped with a fire alarm, a fire extinguisher and a guiding light, but it had never conducted drills, according to the city's fire department.
The Fire Services Law requires buildings with heavy human traffic to draw up an antifire plan and carry out drills twice a year.