Two Firefighters Killed in Osaka Fire Believed to Have Suffocated Just 10 Minutes After Arriving at Building

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:14 JST, August 20, 2025

OSAKA — The two firefighters who died while battling a fire in Osaka’s popular Dotonbori area are believed to have suffocated inside the building about 10 minutes after arriving at the scene, it has been learned.

They may have not been unable to find an evacuation route and faced a shortage of oxygen shortly after starting their firefighting efforts, according to sources at the Osaka prefectural police.

The fire broke out at around 9:45 a.m. on Monday, engulfing in flames a combined 100 square meters across a six-story building and one of seven-stories.

Firefighters Takashi Mori, 55, and Mitsunari Nagatomo, 22, were killed, while four other firefighters and a woman were taken to hospitals.

Firefighters arrived at the scene at 10:01 a.m. Autopsies indicate that Mori and Nagatomo died of suffocation due to oxygen deprivation at around 10:10 a.m., according to police.

According to the Osaka municipal government and the city’s fire department, Mori and Nagatomo were equipped with air tanks when they began entering the seven-story building through its first floor with another firefighter. While the three were working on the fifth floor, part of its ceiling collapsed, forcing Mori and Nagatomo to evacuate to the sixth floor.

The two were eventually rescued on the sixth floor and taken to a hospital, where they were confirmed dead.

Two Firefighters Die Battling Fire at Building in Osaka’s Minami District