February started with a sombre note in Japan after 11 people were killed in a fire that broke out at a residence for elderly people in the northern island of Hokkaido.
While eight men and three women died in the accident, other five residents of the local organisation run facility in the capital city of Sapporo escaped with minor injuries.
Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire and identifying the victims.
According to police, they were alerted about the fire at 11.42pm on 31 January via an emergency call, following which firefighters rushed to the spot to douse the flames.
Footages of the three-storey fully engulfed by flames and firefighters struggling to bring the situation under control were aired on TV. According to reports, the roof of the building collapsed and the walls were completely charred.
The building, which used to function as an inn some 50 years ago, was providing shelter elderly people with financial difficulties. The facility offered low-cost accommodation to the distressed and assisted them to find work. According to local media, the welfare shelter lacked staff at night.
"As there were many oil tanks there, I heard a number of small explosions...Luckily, the only damage to our house was some cracks on the window," said an eyewitness, according to Jiji Press.
Another woman spotted a thick cloud of smoke while she was watching the total lunar eclipse that graced the sky yesterday, according to the media house. "The smoke and flames were rising vertically. If there had been wind, the damage would have been bigger...The surrounding area was bright as if it were a day because of efforts to extinguish fire, and smoke lasted until near the dawn," she said.
This is not the first time that Sapporo witnessed an accident like this. In 2010 a private nursing home caught fire and claimed the lives of seven residents. The flames completely engulfed the wooden house with dementia patients and reduced everything to ashes in few hours.
