Fire tears through Japanese psychiatric clinic, killing 19 in possible arson attack
CBSN
Tokyo — Japanese police were investigating a fire that swept through a clinic on Friday, killing 19 people, as possible arson. At least eight more people were injured by the blaze that tore through the clinic in the western city of Osaka. If confirmed as arson, it would be one of the worst such attacks in Japan in years.
Scores of firefighters and rescue workers converged on the busy street soon after the fire broke out in an eight-story building. The fire originated on the fourth floor, in a psychiatric clinic, just after it opened for business.
It took fire crews about 30 minutes to quash the flames, but multiple victims were left trapped in the smoke-filled clinic.
Noumea — France's president held a flurry of meetings with local representatives in the restive Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Thursday, urging calm after deadly rioting, and vowing thousands of military reinforcements will stay in place to quell what he called an "unprecedented insurrection."
Kathmandu — Nepali climber Phunjo Lama on Thursday reached Mount Everest's summit in 14 hours and 31 minutes, smashing the record for the world's fastest ascent of the mountain by a woman. Climbers usually take days to reach the top of the 29,032-foot mountain, spending nights on its different camps to rest and acclimatize.
New Delhi — Indian justice officials have changed course amid outrage over the bail terms set for a teenager accused of killing two people while driving a Porsche at high speed while drunk and without a license. The 17-year-old son of a wealthy businessman had been ordered to write a 300-word essay and work with the local traffic police for 15 days to be granted bail — a decision that was made within 15 hours of his arrest.
Zurich — A woman jogger was killed by a naked man who was screaming and attacking people in a lakeside park in Switzerland, police said Wednesday. The attack happened Tuesday evening in Mannedorf on Lake Zurich, around 12 miles southeast of Switzerland's biggest city, the Zurich cantonal police said.