National News Three killed in Nagoya when man sets off blast after taking hostages

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NAGOYA (Kyodo) - A man demanding unpaid wages set off a massive explosion Sept. 16 in a Nagoya office building, killing himself, a hostage and a police officer.

Forty-one people were injured in the blast, which blew out a row of windows and started a fire that burned for more than an hour.

The suspect, identified as Noboru Beppu, 52, stormed into the local office of Nagoya-based courier Keikyubin Co., located on the fourth floor of a building in a busy district in Higashi Ward, shortly after 10 a.m.

Wielding a knife, he took eight workers hostage and holed up inside the office after spraying what appeared to be kerosene on the floor, police officials said.

The explosion rocked the building at 1:10 p.m., only 10 minutes after he freed seven of the hostages.

Beppu and the sole remaining hostage, branch manager Kunio Yoshikawa, 41, were still in the office when the blast occurred.

The explosion engulfed the entire floor in flames, and black smoke billowed from the shattered office.

Glass shards showered the street and papers were scattered into the air.

Tatsuya Murase, a 31-year-old officer from the Aichi Prefectural Police who was near the scene at the time of the blast, was seriously injured and later died.

The blast injured 41 others, including two more police officers and passersby who were hurt by shards of glass and debris. Two suffered serious injuries and received treatment at an intensive care unit.

The seven freed hostages were unharmed as they were on the third floor when the explosion occurred.

According to police, Beppu, a resident of Nakagawa Ward here, was a contract driver and was demanding unpaid wages from July through September. Keikyubin representatives said he was demanding ¥250,000, of which the July portion was scheduled to be paid Sept. 20.

名古屋立てこもりで3人死亡

16日、名古屋市東区の軽急便名古屋支店に男が押し入り、灯油のようなものをまいて立てこもった。昼過ぎに爆発があり、炎が上がった。この事件で容疑者の男と人質一人、警官一人が死亡した。

Shukan ST: Sept. 26, 2003

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