TOKYO, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed and some 40 people sustained injuries after a fire broke out Thursday at a construction site in suburban Tokyo.
Among the 40 injured, some 30 sustained severe injuries, according to the local fire department.
The Tokyo Fire Department said that it received an emergency call at around 1:50 p.m. local time about a fire at a site where a building is under construction in the city of Tama, Tokyo Metropolis.
Some 320 workers were at the site when the fire broke out, and according to local police, the fire seems to have started when workers were cutting iron frames and sparkles lit up insulation materials.
Some 70 ambulances and fire trucks were rushed to the site and the fire was extinguished about six hours later.
Workers who have survived the fire said that black smoke blocked their views when they tried to escape from the fire site.
The construction of the seven-story building, with three stories above ground and four underground, started in October 2016 and was scheduled to finish in September this year.
The fire site was about one km from a train station which is surrounded by large commercial facilities.
Local police are investigating the possibility of negligence of workers during operations.
