4 days ago
Yokohama fireworks event organizer apologizes over fire, wants third-party investigation
YOKOHAMA -- The organizing committee of a fireworks festival here that was canceled halfway through after a fire broke out on a barge has apologized and revealed a plan to set up a third-party panel to investigate the cause of the accident.
"We offer our sincerest apologies for causing concern and trouble to local residents and related parties," Hiroyuki Sudo, committee chair and president of the Kanagawa Shimbun daily, told a press conference held by the committee on Aug. 6 at city hall.
The fire broke out at around 7:50 p.m. on Aug. 4 during the Minatomirai Smart Festival in Yokohama's Naka Ward. The blaze was extinguished more than 15 hours later around 11:10 a.m. the following day. According to the event organizer, firefighting efforts were withheld for around nine hours from late on Aug. 4 until early next morning to prevent secondary damage from potential explosions. A 53-year-old pyrotechnician was transported to a hospital due to heatstroke.
Yokohama Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka on Aug. 6 requested the organizing committee to "thoroughly find out the cause of the accident." During an emergency meeting held by the committee that afternoon, it decided to fully cooperate with the city fire department and the Yokohama Coast Guard Office in their investigations and to launch a third-party panel. The committee eyes appointing those affiliated with fire and police authorities and university professors as panel members, and plans to compile a report by the end of the year at the earliest.
(Japanese original by Daiki Yano, Yokohama Bureau)
