OSAKA -- A construction worker died from smoke inhalation after a fire broke out early March 27 at Honmachi Station on the Midosuji Subway Line here, police said.
Masahiro Tokuyama of Higashi Osaka was rushed to a hospital after he fell unconscious from the smoke of a fire near the station platform on the second underground level, they said.
A passerby notified the local fire department around 1:20 a.m. after seeing smoke gushing out of ducts from the underground. The blaze was put out about two hours later after scorching an area of about 5 sq. meters on the ceiling, police said.
The fire began from sparks produced as workers, who were in the process of installing elevators, cut steel pipes with a blowtorch, they said. Police believe Tokuyama was engulfed by smoke while trying to extinguish the fire. Trains were not running at the time of the fire.