Explosion in Saitama Pref. Apartment Building; Aborted Suicide Attempt Led to Incident (Update 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:24 JST, July 19, 2024 (updated at 14:50 JST)

SAITAMA — A man was rushed to the hospital and passersby injured by shattered glass due to an explosion in an apartment building in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, on Thursday evening, according to police.

Prefectural police said the explosion occurred in a third-floor room of the 15-story apartment building. The hospitalized man, a Chinese national in his 40s, was the resident of the room. He recounted, “I filled my room with gas in an attempt to commit suicide, but as I came to my senses, I opened the window and smoked a cigarette, which exploded,” according to investigators.

Police are interviewing the man to further investigate the cause of the explosion as they began inspecting the scene Friday morning.

All residents of the total 75 households were evacuated to a nearby junior high school. The apartment building is located around 150 meters southeast of JR Nishi-Kawaguchi Station.