Most of the 44 people who died from a fire in a building in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward at the weekend are believed to have died less than two minutes after inhaling carbon monoxide or hydrocyanic acid gas, investigators said Tuesday.
Firefighters found 16 bodies in a video mah-jongg game parlor on the third floor, where the fire is believed to have started, and a further 28 in a hostess bar on the fourth floor of the Myojo 56 Building in the Kabukicho entertainment district early Saturday.
Autopsies of six victims showed that five died from carbon monoxide poisoning and one from burns, with the latter highly likely to have been unconscious from inhaling smoke, according to police.
Carbon monoxide is released when there is incomplete combustion at the site of a fire. It combines with hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood. A 70 percent or higher level of carbon monoxide in the blood is fatal.
Police also believe that hydrocyanic acid gas, which is released when petroleum products are burned, filled the top floors of the four-story building. This gas renders people comatose.
The only survivors from the fire were three employees of the game parlor who jumped from third-floor windows, according to police.