A 36-year-old woman and her two daughters died in a fire early Saturday at an apartment building in Osaka Prefecture, police and fire department officials said.
Police identified the woman as Chika Arimitsu and the daughters as Mei, 7, and Rin, 5. Arimitsu's 17-year-old son was taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.
The son told police that when he saw fire coming from a blaze in the kitchen, he went outside to fetch a fire extinguisher but could not re-enter the house because of the smoke.
"Four of us were inside a room when the fire broke out," the son was quoted as telling investigators. Another resident of the five-story apartment called the fire department at around 2:45 a.m.
"My family saw orange flames from the balcony and we all escaped as instructed by firefighters," another resident of the apartment said.