Fire department officials confirmed that a total of 33 people have died and 36 have been injured from a suspected arson attack on the Kyoto Animation studio on Thursday, July 18, 2019.
The fire started Thursday morning at around 10:30 AM and was under control about five hours later, according to NHK World.
A man in his 40s has been taken into custody as a suspect and is now being treated in a hospital for injuries.
No clear motive has been established yet but witnesses heard him yell “die” in Japanese as he reportedly poured petrol inside the building before igniting it.
The president of Kyoto Animation, Hideaki Hatta, said that their office has recently been receiving threatening emails, telling them to “die.”
Fire at Kyoto anime studio claims ‘multiple lives’
Kyoto Animation, aka KyoAni, is a Japanese animation studio and a light novel publisher located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan.
Established in 1981 by Yoko and Hideaki Hatta, Kyoto Animation has since then produced several popular TV series such as “K-On”, “Nichijou”, and “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”. It has also produced notable animated films including “Sound! Euphonium: The Movie – Welcome to the Kitauji High School Concert Band” and “A Silent Voice”.
Since the tragic fire, thousands have shown support to Kyoto Animation company.
Sentai Filmworks, the distributor of KyoAni’s works in North America, had set up a GoFundMe page named “Help KyoAni Heal”. The page says “Sentai Filmworks hopes to help the KyoAni team during this time of need.” The campaign has already raised over USD 585,000 from almost 18,000 people in 9 hours. Sentai hopes to raise USD 750,000 for Kyoto Animation.
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