fire

On Tuesday evening, commuters at Urawa Station in Saitama Prefecture were in for a bit of a shock when an abandoned piece of corrugated cardboard suddenly burst into flames. The fire was soon extinguished by station attendants, but the question remains: what caused the mysterious incident?

The incident occurred around 6pm on Tuesday at Urawa Station (浦和駅), which is part of Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture. The station is served by multiple train lines and serves as a hub for daily commuters to Tokyo.

▼Urawa Station in relation to Tokyo

urawa map

▼Urawa Station: scene of the mysterious happening

Urawa_Sta_East201303

No one really knows what caused the flare-up, but people have been speculating that it was either an act of arson or a simple accident. Or maybe it was just the cardboard’s way of protesting the oppressive heat of the last few days. Thankfully, no injuries were reported, and JR East stated that the small fire did not cause any delays in the train schedule.

Passersby were quick to take photos of the disturbance as it unfolded and spread the news through social media:

“Something caught fire at Urawa Station. Was it arson? Scary…”

“Was there something explosive at Urawa Station? Was it an incendiary device? There’s lots of commotion at the scene as onlookers and police watch firefighters put out the fire!”

https://twitter.com/twitten_nono/statuses/494049341816836098

“There was an explosive incident at Urawa Station in Saitama City. So many ambulances and fire trucks.”

“Passing through the site of the fire at Urawa Station after it happened”

Saitama train stations sure do seem to get a lot of excitement, if you remember this incident from last summer which took place at Minami-Urawa Station, only one stop to the south of Urawa Station. Let’s hope there won’t be another unpleasant episode next year!

Source: ITmedia Inc.
Images: Twitter – Meganepandabotsunsun, Google Maps, Wikipedia – Nishikaratsu