Two women and a girl died in a fire early Sunday in Ota Ward, Tokyo, police and firefighters said.
Three bodies identified as those of Setsuko Sakuragi, 82, her daughter, Hiroko, 48, and her granddaughter, Natsumi, 9, were found after the 5:30 a.m. fire gutted their house in the Kugahara district, fire officials said.
The structure was a wooden two-story house about 600 meters northeast of Chidoricho Station on Tokyu Railway's Ikegami Line.
Hiroko Sakuragi's elder sister, Sonoko, 54, went outside to call for help while the fire was in its early stages. She suffered a throat injury caused by smoke inhalation, the officials said.
The fire damaged neighboring houses before it was contained about two hours later.
According to the initial investigation, the kitchen on the first floor suffered the most damage.