A fire burned seven houses and shops and left three people missing Sunday night amid strong winds near a traditional hot springs resort in Oita Prefecture.
According to police and the local fire department, five structures burned down completely and two others were damaged after the fire broke out at 7:15 p.m. in the city of Beppu. It was extinguished at 11 p.m., but authorities were unable to contact two men and one woman.
Two elderly people were taken to a hospital after the fire. One, an 81-year-old man, was treated for light injuries and the other, a 95-year-old man, became sick. The fire did not reach nearby traditional inns and tourist facilities in the popular hot springs area.
As of 11 p.m., about 30 residents had been evacuated to public facilities in the neighborhood.
According to the Oita meteorological observatory, a warning for strong winds and high waves was in effect along the coastline when the fire started. In the city of Oita, just northwest of Beppu, the maximum instantaneous wind speed was 15 meters per second at 9:51 p.m.
"I noticed there was a fire when a loud siren sounded. I worried it would burn a wide area because the wind blew very hard and many houses in this area are made of wood," said a 69-year-old man who works at a nearby inn.
The damaged area had flourished as the center of the hot springs resort until decades ago, according to local residents. The number of inns and shops has declined since then, and houses outnumber those facilities now, they said.
