A fire at a warehouse in Ota Ward, Tokyo, on Tuesday afternoon left three men dead and injured another, as well as causing disruption to some flights at nearby Haneda airport.
Firefighters received an emergency call at around 1:25 p.m. reporting a fire at a warehouse used by a subsidiary of major seafood company Maruha Nichiro Corp. Five and a half hours later the blaze was said to have been subdued but not yet fully extinguished.
The five-story warehouse, located in an industrial area along Tokyo Bay, was being used by Maruha Nichiro Logistics Inc. to store frozen food products, according to its parent company.
A plumber was welding pipes when the fire broke out, the company said. Police are continuing to investigate the cause.
Four other people were rescued from the roof by helicopter, the Tokyo Fire Department said. More than 50 fire engines and other vehicles arrived at the scene to extinguish the blaze, which appeared to have started on the fifth floor of the building.
The fire temporarily forced Haneda airport to halt the use of one of its four runways, causing short delays to some flights, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.