A fire in southwestern Japan damages 170 homes and forces evacuations

The Associated Press

November 19, 2025 / 9:50 am

TOKYO — Firefighters and army helicopters battled a fire Wednesday that burned through a neighborhood of old wooden houses in a fishing town in southwestern Japan, killing one person, injuring another and forcing more than 170 people to evacuate.

A man in his 70s was unaccounted for and firefighters later found a body, possibly of the missing man, and a woman in her 50s suffered a minor injury, the Oita prefecture disaster response team said.

Dozens of fire engines and more than 200 firefighters were mobilized to battle the fire, which was not still fully under control more than a day after it started. The Ground Self-Defense Force dispatched two UH-1 army helicopte

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