translated from Spanish: What’s known about the Kyoto fire, Japan’s biggest murder in decades

Last Thursday, about 70 employees were starting their workday at the Kyoto Animation studio in Japan, when a man came in throwing fuel at the cry of “they’re going to die.” The fire spread rapidly in the two-story building and 33 people lost their lives. One of the 35 wounded in the tragedy confessed to being the perpetrator of the attack and then lost consciousness. He is now hospitalized under police surveillance according to local media. His name is Shinji Aoba, he is 41 years old and a local from the city of Saitama, north of Tokyo. One neighbor described him to Japanese media as “a person with mental imbalances.”
Some media outlets reported that he had no relationship with the company he attacked, although he accused them of plagiarism. While he pleaded guilty, the authorities are waiting for him to recover to take the formal statements and to know the reasons that led him to act in this way. Police explained that the man sprayed the place with a flammable liquid and then started the fire with a lighter. There were 33 dead and 35 wounded, 10 of them seriously. Several local media outlets began replicating witness statements and reported that 19 people were killed trapped in the stairwell while trying to reach the terrace, but were unable to open the door. From the company they noted that they had received anonymous emails criticizing some Kyoto Animation works and turning to the police.

Original source in Spanish