Woman gets trapped in apartment balcony during fire but kicks firefighter off ladder during rescue operation
A rescue operation in Osaka, Japan, took a shocking turn when a young woman trapped on an apartment balcony kicked a firefighter off a ladder while attempting to rescue her.
The incident occurred on Friday (14 Nov) at 7am in the Higashiyodogawa District.
In a viral video captured from the scene, flames and thick smoke erupted from an apartment, with the sound of small explosions heard from the scene.
A 26-year-old woman is believed to have accidentally sparked the fire while cooking eggs in her second-floor apartment, forcing her to retreat to her neighbour’s balcony to await rescue, according to Japanese site ameblo.jp.
Woman panics and kicks rescuer off ladder
When firefighters arrived, they immediately set up a rescue ladder to reach her. However, the situation quickly escalated.
Overcome with panic, the woman began shouting and struggled to cooperate with the rescuers.
Source: @volcaholic1 on X
Firefighters tried to approach the woman, but she raised her foot and kicked one of the firefighters standing on a rescue ladder.
This caused the firefighter to lose their balance and plummet from a significant height.
During the chaos, the woman lost her footing and also fell.
Source: @volcaholic1 on X
Thankfully, both the woman and the firefighter sustained only minor injuries, with no life-threatening harm.
The fire was successfully extinguished within 20 minutes
Police investigating incident
Some media outlets have suggested that the woman may be of Chinese nationality, speculating that her erratic behaviour could be linked to issues like illegal residency or drug use, according to Sin Chew Daily.
However, the police have yet to confirm any of these rumours, and investigations into the woman’s identity and background are still ongoing.
Authorities have urged the public not to speculate excessively and emphasised that they are awaiting the full investigation results before reaching a conclusion.
Also read: Man in South Korea uses homemade flamethrower to set fire to apartment over alleged noise complaints
Man in South Korea uses homemade flamethrower to set fire to apartment over alleged noise complaints
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Featured image adapted from @volcaholic1 on X.
