bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Kyodo

Police arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of murder on Friday after he confessed to setting fire to a flat in Ibaraki Prefecture where a woman and four children were found dead.
A sixth victim, an 11-year-old girl, was confirmed dead after being taken to a hospital.
Police arrested Hirobumi Komatsu on suspicion of killing the girl, who sustained multiple stab wounds, at his home in a three-floor block in Hitachi city. He handed himself in to the police.
The six victims, believed to be his 33-year-old wife, daughter and four sons, were found in a room on the first floor of the flat, firefighters said.
The police believe the boys were age five and seven, as well as three-year-old twins.

The fire broke out at about 5am and was put out about an hour later after around 10 fire engines and ambulances rushed to the scene.
“My wife and five children were in my house,” said Komatsu, who also suffered burns, according to the police.
Komatsu is suspected of killing the girl at around 4.30am at home. He admitted to the charge and implied that he killed his wife and five children while being interviewed by police, sources said.
A neighbour of the family said Komatsu’s wife and children moved into the flat about three years ago and Komatsu later moved in with them.
The suspect had taken a week off work, saying his wife was sick, according to his employer.
The flat was part of nearly 40-year-old complex about 1.5km southwest of Ogitsu Station on the JR Joban line.


North Korea fires ballistic missiles as US signals defence shift

DeepSeek taps Alibaba open-source AI technology to boost OCR performance

What were lead singer Rosé’s local snack choices at Blackpink’s Hong Kong shows?

Takaichi says ties will ‘collapse’ if US forces are hit in Taiwan and Tokyo does nothing

Japan

Father arrested in Japan after fire kills six, including five children

Investigators work near a flat which was engulfed by a fire in Hitachi, Ibaraki prefecture. Photo: Kyodo

Plastic blue sheets cover an apartment where dead bodies were found after a fire in Hitachi, Ibaraki prefecture eastern Japan Friday, Oct. 6, 2017. The apartment fire has killed six people, and a man turned himself in and was arrested on suspicion of murder. Police say six bodies were found in the building, believed to be the wife and five children of the man. (Maya Matsumoto/Kyodo News via AP)

News

Asia

East Asia