Fire breaks out at earthquake-damaged Nippon Paper Plant in Kumamoto
In the 7.1-magnitude temblor on July 28, a chimney at the plant collapsed, leaving nine people dead.
Kumamoto, Japan experienced a fire at a Nippon Paper Industries facility on Thursday afternoon, following a devastating earthquake that struck the region in late July. The earthquake, measuring a magnitude of 7.1, caused significant damage, including the collapse of a chimney at the plant in Yatsushiro city, resulting in nine fatalities.
Around 5:55 p.m., local fire authorities received an emergency call from someone affiliated with the plant, informing them of a fire that had started during the dismantling of the chimney. At the time, 10 individuals were working nearby, but thankfully, none of them were injured. The fire was extinguished just before 9:30 p.m.
Nippon Paper Industries issued an apology for the smoke and noise caused by the fire, assuring the community that they would fully cooperate with authorities investigating the cause. The initial earthquake, which registered an upper 6 on Japan's seismic intensity scale, was one of the strongest to hit the Kumamoto prefecture, causing widespread destruction and loss of life.
Written by urgent.news from Japan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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