Japan: Two die in fire at lawmaker's residence

Tokyo(The Uttam Hindu): A fire broke out Wednesday in an apartment building in Tokyo where a Japanese lawmaker lives with her family, and two unidentified bodies have been found at the scene, local authorities said.

A report was made after 7 p.m. local time Wednesday that a fire had started at a unit in a six-story apartment building in Bunkyo Ward of the Japanese capital, the residence of Kuniko Inoguchi, an upper house lawmaker of the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and three other family members, a firefighter said.

Contact was made with the 72-year-old House of Councillors member and one of her daughters after the incident, but her husband and their other daughter remain unaccounted for, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting the metropolitan police.

The blaze was subdued before 1 a.m. local time Thursday after more than 30 firetrucks and other emergency vehicles had been dispatched to the scene.

Inoguchi was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2005 after being a professor at Sophia University. She has been a member of the House of Councillors since 2010 and is currently in her third term.