Fire breaks out at Tokyo primary school, injuring at least 1

TOKYO: A fire broke out at an elementary school in Tokyo on Friday, injuring at least one person, but all children and staff were evacuated safely, Japanese media reports said.

Thick black smoke billowed from a top-floor window after the blaze reportedly started in a music room at Takinogawa Dai-san School in the northern ward of Kita.

A fire department official told AFP that efforts to fully extinguish the blaze were still underway, and at least one person had been sent to hospital.

An AFP journalist said helicopters flew overhead as parents rushed to pick up frightened children.

One witness told how children escaped out of windows to a concrete ledge below, before fire crews brought them to safety using ladders.

A child in the sixth grade described how she and her classmates, who were two rooms away from the music room, suddenly smelled smoke.

“We thought maybe someone was cooking… Then the siren went off,” she said.

She told how they ran down the stairs, covering their mouths with handkerchiefs, and evacuated to the schoolyard.

“Then we saw the music room already burning with flames. There’s a multi-purpose room next to it, and we heard a bang from around the area between the multi-purpose room and the music room.

“It was scary, and a lot of kids were crying,” she said.

Television footage showed dozens of firefighters battling to bring the flames under control, spraying water from a playing field towards the mass of smoke.

Public broadcaster NHK said a teacher was injured and several children suffered smoke inhalation.