At least seven people were found dead early Wednesday in the rubble of house fires in Tokyo, Nara and Takaishi, Osaka Prefecture, police said.
In Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, four people, including two children, were found dead after a 5:20 a.m. fire hit the home of Kazuyuki Tanabe, 45.
One of the dead has been confirmed as Tanabe's brother, Masayuki, 44, who was rescued but pronounced dead at a hospital. The other three fatalities are believed to be Tanabe's daughter, Akira, 6, his son, Kazuaki, 10, and another daughter, Asuka, a 20-year-old college student, police said.
Four other family members, including Tanabe's wife, 44, were injured in the fire.
In Nara, a fire broke out at around 2:35 a.m. at the home of Sakae Tanimoto, 60, killing two, police said. The victims are believed to be Tanimoto's father-in-law, Manjiro, 101, and his mother-in-law, Takee, 90.
Another fire at the home of Makoto Shimada, 46, in Takaishi killed his mother, Teru, 76, who was blind, police said.
Mom played; kids died
CHIBA (Kyodo) The mother of three children who died Tuesday in a fire at their apartment in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, was at a pachinko parlor at the time, contrary to her earlier claims that she was at a hospital, police said Wednesday.
Mai Tanoguchi, 23, who initially told police she was at a hospital being tested at the time of the fire, which broke out around 4 p.m. Tuesday, has said she didn't want to divulge that she was playing pachinko with a male friend, they said.
Of the three children, the police have confirmed the identities of Tanoguchi's oldest son, Tasuku, 4, and 6-month-old daughter, Umi, but have yet to identify the third body as that of the siblings' 3-year-old brother, Arashi.
