A local youth on Monday brought police to the charred remains of his 16-year-old friend and told a harrowing tale of how he escaped the same fate.
Masato Takahashi, from the town of Mishima, Niigata Prefecture, was apparently set ablaze by two men who the night before had summoned him and the friend, whose name is being withheld.
The friend was barefoot and wearing clothes that were soaked and smelling of kerosene when he came looking for help, a local resident told police.
Takahashi's body, found in the Warabino Tunnel, a highway tunnel in Muikamachi, Niigata Prefecture, had been doused with kerosene and burned beyond recognition, police said, adding they are treating the case as a homicide.