A powerful fire and explosion ripped through a mah-jongg parlor and an adult entertainment club in the Kabukicho entertainment district of Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward early Saturday, killing at least 44 people and injuring three others, authorities said.
The victims -- 32 men and 12 women -- were among 47 people who were taken to about 20 hospitals in Shinjuku Ward and surrounding areas. The three survivors suffered minor injuries after jumping from the four-story Meisei 56 Building.
Hospital officials said most of the victims died from inhaling carbon monoxide fumes. The causes of the remaining deaths were not immediately known or have not been made public and, as of 5 p.m. Saturday evening officials had not identified 14 of the men and the nine female victims. Some of the dead were identified as Takaaki Kobayashi, 35, from Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, Teruyasu Yoshiura, aged 32, Minoru Udaka, 46, and Hiroki Kawai, 24, both of Tokyo's Itabashi Ward, Koichiro Saeki, 41, from Tokyo's Adachi Ward, and Masakazu Fujii, 37, of Tokyo's Sumida Ward.