Fire breaks out at earthquake-damaged Nippon Paper plant in Kumamoto
A caller linked to the Yatsushiro plant alerted local fire authorities at about 5.55pm, and the blaze was controlled before 9.30pm.
- A fire broke out at the Nippon Paper Industries plant in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, which had been previously damaged by an earthquake.
- The blaze occurred while 10 workers were dismantling a chimney that was damaged during a 7.1-magnitude earthquake on July 28.
- All workers escaped without injury, and the fire was brought under control by local authorities several hours later.
All 10 people working to dismantle an earthquake-damaged chimney escaped injury when a fire started near the structure on Thursday (September 3), according to the Kumamoto prefectural police department.
The afternoon blaze occurred at Nippon Paper Industries Co.’s plant in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, in southwestern Japan.
The dismantling was part of an operation launched in late August to remove a chimney that collapsed during the July 28 earthquake, killing nine people.
The 7.1-magnitude tremor heavily damaged the plant and registered upper 6 in Yatsushiro, the second-highest level on Japan’s seismic intensity scale.
Local fire authorities were contacted at about 5.55pm by someone associated with the plant, who reported the blaze during the dismantling operation.
Police said the fire was under control shortly before 9.30pm.
Nippon Paper said: “We deeply apologise to people in the neighbourhood for causing concern and trouble due to the smoke and noise related to the fire. We will fully cooperate in the authorities’ investigation into the cause of the fire.”
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
