Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. on Tuesday recalled a range of faulty gas ovens that have already caused four fires since last year.
The consumer electronics maker said there might be a problem with the ovens' connecting pipes, possibly causing them to leak gas. The recall covers a total of 9,044 ovens.
Fires caused by the faulty ovens include an incident in Kawasaki on Oct. 9, when the oven and surrounding walls were burned.
Subject to the recall are models manufactured between May 2000 and April 2001, including those sold under the brand names of Matsushita Electric Works Ltd. and Tokyo Gas Co. The three firms have offered to check the ovens and repair any defective parts for free.
The ovens sold under the brand name of Matsushita Electric Industrial are NE-B701, NE-B701S, NE-B702, NE-B702S, NE-B601 and GE-B401.
Those sold under the Matsushita Electric Works brand are SUE31EE1, QG31EE1, SUE31EES1, SUS31EE1, SUS31EES1 and SUE33EE1. Those sold under the Tokyo Gas brand are MA860L and MA660L.