34 Staff Injured at Kyoto Animation Arson Now Recovering Well

Good news to those waiting for updates on this event that rocked the anime world: Kyodo News agency reports that the 34 reported injured during the Kyoto Animation arson are currently recovering well. While a few of them are still being observed in the Intensive Care Unit, their condition is stable and appears that they may leave the ICU soon.

Currently, the Kyoto Prefectural Police are still gathering more important information about the arson incident, such as constructing a model of the burned studio, studying the evacuation methods in the building, and interviewing other eyewitnesses.

Kyodo News also reported that over 2.5 billion yen (USD23 million) have been donated to the official bank account set up by Kyoto Animation for donations. On September 13, Kyoto Animation announced in their website that they have already received the money sourced from Animate, the Kyoto International Manga Museum, as well as from Sentai Filmworks’ GoFundMe. In total, donations from third-party sources were estimated to be over 550 million yen (USD5.2 million).

So for those who donated to the Sentai Filmworks fundraiser, your donations have already reached KyoAni. We hope that those donations go a long way in helping the victims.

Final count of the casualties in the fire is 35, with 10 names already released to the public.

The fire started at around 10:30 AM JST on July 18, with the Kyoto City Fire Department immediately dispatching 30 fire engines to respond to the scene. Fire out was officially announced at 3:19 PM JST. Police apprehended a 41-year-old man who was seen by nearby residents to have poured gasoline around the building and then started the fire.

The suspect was identified to be a resident of Saitama City but used to live in Ibaraki Prefecture in Honshu, where he was indicted in 2012 for a convenience store robbery. He served three and a half years in jail for this crime. He was also found to have lived in a shelter for former convicts before moving in to his present address, which was found on the driver’s license he was carrying with him. He was also reported to have a mental illness, something which prosecutors expect will be used in court to his favor.

As of this writing, the suspect was already reported to have recovered enough to have regained his speech, although he still requires a ventilator and will also need to undergo rehabilitation. It will be remembered that he was in critical condition after being apprehended by the police shortly after he set fire to the studio, as he had burns all over his body. Police have already obtained a warrant for his arrest but are still waiting for him to recover fully to be able to imprison him.  

Source: Crunchyroll News