Three women were killed and at least three other people were injured Tuesday in an explosion at an annex of a women-only spa facility near a busy section of Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, firefighters said.
The three fatalities and two of the injured were female employees of the Shiespa facility, according to the firefighters and a group company of the spa’s operator. The third injured person was believed to be a male passerby.
Authorities initially believed the explosion, which occurred around 2:30 p.m., was due to a malfunctioning boiler in the basement of the one-story annex.
However, the Tokyo Fire Department said later the boiler was not located in the annex but in the main building. It suspects that the explosion may have been caused by methane gas contained in hot water pumped from underground.
The Shibuya Police Station was also looking into the cause of the explosion, suspecting possible negligence on the part of the bathhouse operator.
Takashi Nishida, head of the management department of Unimat Cosmo, the parent company of Shiespa’s operator, held a news conference in the evening to apologize for the accident. He said the cause and other circumstances of the explosion were still not known.
Visitors in the spa’s nine-story main building near the annex were evacuated safely, firefighters said.
The annex housed changing rooms for spa employees on the first floor and a pump for hot water in the basement. Visitors to the spa did not have access to the annex.
The explosion shattered windows in the main building and damaged other buildings nearby, firefighters said.
The popular spa facility, which opened in January 2006, featured a natural hot spring, an open-air bath, a sauna and salon. It provided a variety of venues for relaxation such as bedrock baths and a bar with various waters from all over the world.
It is located about 500 meters west of JR Shibuya Station, near shopping and amusement sites such as a Tokyu department store and the Bunkamura theater complex.
The number of spa facilities in the metropolitan area is increasing as they are becoming more popular, especially among young women.
Witnesses said they heard a large explosion and saw the roof and walls of the annex blown off, exposing the building’s mangled orange steel frame.
“I heard a huge boom. When I jumped outside, I saw a plume of smoke,” said Miki Yamagishi, a clerk at a nearby convenience store.
About 150 rescuers used search dogs to scan the debris for others possibly missing, according to fire official Junko Asasaka.
After the flames were extinguished, fire officials swarmed over the blasted shell of the building. Debris had been blown into the street and against the neighboring apartment houses, shattering windows.
Jun Okubo, 42, from Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, said he heard what sounded like a heavy metal ball being dropped and felt the earth shake as he was walking nearby.
When Okubo rushed to the scene, he saw a man whose face was covered in blood and his shoes in tatters.
“I saw a man in workman’s gear trapped in the rubble and unable to move,” said Masami Hanahara, 61, a nearby resident.
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