Four elderly people believed to have been inside a burning house in northeastern Japan remain unaccounted for following the blaze, police said.
The fire broke out around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday in the house of Akira Ota, an 81-year-old farmer, in Tono, Iwate Prefecture. The fire ripped through two two-story houses, including an annex.
According to the police, Ota, his 74-year-old wife, Sachiko, as well as Sachiko's parents — Sanji, 95, and Kie, 94 — remain missing.
Ota's son and his wife lived in the annex but escaped the blaze, the police said.