An explosion tore through a building in downtown Tokyo on Monday, scattering debris across a busy intersection and sending smoke into the air, but the fire was soon contained and only four people suffered minor injuries, Japanese media reported.
Video footage aired by public broadcaster NHK showed flames through the windows of the shattered second floor of the building, located in the Shinbashi area of the Japanese capital.
The cause of the blast was not immediately clear but witnesses said they had smelled gas prior to hearing the explosion.
"I'd just got to work and was starting preparations when there was a really loud explosion," said Shinobu Nakagawa, a 26-year-old restaurant worker, who works on the first floor of the building. He said he grabbed his phone and rushed outside.
"Furniture and shards of glass were scattered everywhere, and when I looked up, smoke was surging upwards."
The area where the explosion occurred is near a railway station and packed with bars and restaurants popular with office workers.
Israeli troops and tanks pushed on Saturday into parts of a congested northern Gaza Strip district that they had previously skirted in the more than seven-month-old war, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians, medics and residents said.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is no longer in immediate danger but still in a serious condition, his deputy said on Sunday, four days after an assassination attempt that sent shockwaves through Europe.
At least 47 people have died after continued heavy rain and flooding in northern Afghanistan, an official said on Sunday, a day after a similar number were killed in a central province.
Russian airstrikes killed at least ten people and injured many others in a recreation area just outside Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv on Sunday, local officials said.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz will undergo medical tests on Sunday due to "high temperature and joint pain", state news agency SPA reported.
A volcano on the remote Indonesian island of Halmahera has spectacularly erupted, spewing a grey ash cloud into the sky, and people from seven nearby villages have been evacuated, authorities said on Sunday.
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico remains in serious condition and still faces risks of complications but has stabilised, officials said on Saturday, following Wednesday's assassination attempt.
Pakistan's foreign ministry said on Saturday it had summoned and handed a note of protest to Kyrgyzstan's top diplomat in the country in response to violence against Pakistani students in Bishkek.
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Welcome to Pinoy Bulletin, your go-to source for staying informed about important announcements, exciting group activities, community events, and job opportunities!
Welcome to Pinoy Bulletin, your go-to source for staying informed about important announcements, exciting group activities, community events, and job opportunities!