Overview

• Osaka Prefectural Police and the City Fire Bureau started a joint on-site inspection on Aug. 19 to identify the fire’s cause.
• The city plans to set up a verification committee as early as Aug. 21 to examine a suspected 5th–6th floor collapse and review building compliance.
• Fire Commander Mori Takashi, 55, and firefighter Nagatomo Mitsunari, 22, both of Naniwa Fire Station, were found on the sixth floor after a teammate escaped and alerted rescuers.
• Officials say the collapse likely removed escape routes during interior operations, and four other firefighters plus a woman in her 20s were hospitalized without life-threatening injuries.
• The blaze involved two adjoining mixed-use buildings connected internally, where a 2023 inspection found six fire-safety violations that were largely uncorrected before the incident.