Overview
- The fire broke out Friday, June 19, on the fourth floor of Takinogawa Third Elementary School near the music room and quickly produced heavy black smoke.
- About 330 pupils and staff evacuated the building and some students and a teacher sheltered on a narrow external ledge before firefighters rescued them with ladders.
- Ten to eleven people, mostly children and some teachers, were taken to hospital with mainly smoke inhalation and minor injuries and no life‑threatening conditions were reported.
- Tokyo Fire Department crews largely brought the blaze under control in about an hour after it burned roughly 200 square metres and the Metropolitan Police and fire investigators have opened a formal probe.
- Kita Ward announced a temporary closure and said the school will review safety measures after officials reported a burnt smell from a music preparation room and emphasized follow‑up inspections and support for affected families.