Four people were injured Monday after a suspected gas explosion at a bar in a building in Tokyo's Shimbashi district caused a fire and left the surrounding area covered in debris.
Firetrucks arrived at the scene, located in an area full of restaurants and offices, after an eyewitness made an emergency call to police at around 3:15 p.m. Three of the four injured people including the owner of the bar are believed to be seriously hurt, police said.
The police said they received information that what appeared to be gas could be smelt inside the building, and that it is possible there was a gas leak in the property.
The bar's 52-year-old owner was also quoted as telling the police, "I thought I could smell something like gas or sewage in the smoking area, and when I used a lighter to light a cigarette there was this explosion."
The business had yet to open and there were no customers inside. Firefighters took just over an hour to largely extinguish the blaze.
Apart from the business owner, a woman in her 50s who works at the bar and was inside at the time was hurt, as were two men in their 50s and 70s passing by the scene. The two men appear to have been injured by falling glass shards.
The incident shocked the busy area, with 28-year-old Yosuke Nishikawa, who manages a bar opposite the scene, saying he "heard a tremendous explosion."
"The glass was blown off the second floor of the building, and I could see paper and glass everywhere," he said, adding that the fire "started about five to 10 minutes after the explosion."
Shinobu Nakagawa, a 26-year-old employed at a Japanese-style pub on the building's first floor, said he could "smell gas" even before starting work. "I was so scared right after the explosion, I thought maybe a car had crashed into the building."
The building is situated 300 meters west of JR Shimbashi Station. It stands eight floors high and also includes a basement level.
Amid concerns of dangers from the suspected gas leak, the area was cordoned off and passersby were asked to stay about 30 meters from the site, according to the police.
