In an escalation of the investigation into the December 15 fire that killed a couple at a luxury Tokyo sauna, police raided the operator's offices and manager's home on December 26 over suspected professional negligence. The raids followed findings of a detached door handle and inactivated emergency system that trapped the victims.
On December 26 at around 3:10 p.m., the Metropolitan Police Department searched a building in Tokyo's Akasaka district housing Sauna & Co., operator of the SaunaTiger facility where the deadly fire occurred earlier this month. Investigators seized items in three cardboard boxes and also raided the facility manager's home.
The December 15 blaze trapped 36-year-old Masanari Matsuda and his 37-year-old wife Yoko inside a private sauna room. The L-shaped wooden doorknobs were detached—having been replaced earlier this year due to cracks and looseness, with similar issues on other units. The emergency button was pressed forcefully, but the office receiver was inactivated; the president admitted never activating it since taking over about two years ago.
The raids target inadequate safety measures believed to have contributed to the deaths.
