5 taken to hospital after alleged arson at central Japan city hall

Five people were taken to hospital on July 16 after fire, believed to have been deliberately lit, broke out at a city hall in central Japan, according to local authorities, Report informs referring to Kyodo.

An emergency call was made around 3 p.m. reporting that someone had poured a gasoline-like substance and set a fire at the Takahama city hall in Aichi Prefecture, police and fire authorities said.

Among the five taken to hospital, a man in his 60s suffered burns over his entire body and remains unconscious, while the other four individuals sustained minor injuries, they said.

A police officer who rushed to the scene apprehended a man believed to have started the fire, which was extinguished around 20 minutes later.

The man had allegedly brandished a knife before pouring flammable liquid from a plastic bottle over himself and lighting a fire, investigative sources said.