5 guilty over fatal Kabukicho fire

Operators of a multi-tenant building in Tokyo's Kabukicho nightlife district were convicted Wednesday of professional negligence resulting in death and bodily injury over a fire that killed 44 people in September 2001.

But the Tokyo District Court handed down suspended sentences, saying the defendants could not have anticipated such a large blaze, which was deliberately set.

The building's de facto owner, Shigeo Segawa, 66, and four others, including tenants, received two- to three-year prison terms, suspended for four to five years, for failing to take proper fire-prevention measures.

Another defendant, 44, was acquitted because he was in a position just to assist one of the tenants.

Family members of the victims criticized the sentencing, as well as the defendants.

"I want to tell my daughter that they didn't offer sincere apologies at all," said Suiko Nakamura, 59, whose 23-year-old daughter, Sayuri, died in the blaze.

Another mother, aged 56, said of her daughter who was killed, "She would not accept the sentences."

The fire, believed to have been set near an elevator on the third floor, killed 44 customers and workers of establishments in the building, including a hostess bar and a mah-jongg parlor, on Sept. 1, 2001.

They were trapped in the building during the blaze, and most of them died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The suspected arsonist, responsible for Japan's fifth deadliest blaze since World War II, has not been caught.

During the trial, the six defendants pleaded innocent, saying they were not in a position to give instructions on fire-prevention management.

However, Presiding Judge Masanori Hatoko ruled that the five shouldered grave responsibility for "one of the worst fires in history'' by "placing the sole priority on the pursuit of profits while neglecting fire-prevention efforts.''

Segawa and the four others were responsible for keeping stairways and entrances unobstructed while ensuring that fire doors and other equipment were in working condition, the judge said.

"But the fire alarms and fire-prevention equipment contained various defects, leaving the building in a dangerous condition,'' the judge ruled.

If the defendants had fulfilled their responsibilities, no one would have died, the judge said.

But the judge did not send the defendants to prison, saying it was difficult for them to have anticipated the large scale of the fire.

He also took into account the fact the company that owns the building had paid 1.01 billion yen in consolation money to victims and bereaved families.(IHT/Asahi: July 3,2008)