A mountain of garbage on the landing outside a mah-jongg game parlor destroyed in a fatal fire early Saturday was blocking a fire door, stopping it from automatically closing when fire alarms went off, police investigating the blaze said Wednesday.
If the fire door in the third-floor lobby of the building in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward had been working properly, some of the 44 people who perished might have been saved, the police said.
The Metropolitan Police Department are questioning the Tokyo-based firm Kurume Kosan -- owner of the Myojo 56 Building in the Kabukicho entertainment district -- and managers of the tenants on suspicion of criminal negligence that led to the deaths of the victims.