title: Contribution of forensic autopsy to scene reconstruction in mass fire casualties: a case of alleged arson on a floor consisting of small compartments in a building.
abstract: A fire is an important cause of mass disasters, involving various forensic issues. Before dawn on an early morning, 16 male visitors in their twenties to sixties were killed in a possibly incendiary fire at a 'private video parlor' consisting of small compartments in a building. The main causes of death as determined by forensic autopsy were acute carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication for all of the 15 found-dead victims, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy following acute CO intoxication for a victim who died in hospital. Burns were mild (<20% of body surface) in most victims, except for three victims found between the entrance and the estimated fire-outbreak site; thus, identification was completed without difficulty, supported by DNA analysis. Blood carboxyhemoglobin saturation (COHb) was higher for victims found dead in the inner area. Blood cyanide levels were sublethal, moderately correlated to COHb, but were higher in victims found around the estimated fire-outbreak site. There was no evidence of thinner, alcohol or drug abuse, or an attack of disease as a possible cause of an accidental fire outbreak. These observations contribute to evidence-based reconstruction of the fire disaster, and suggest how deaths could have been prevented by appropriate disaster measures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Asahi-machi 1-4-3, Abeno, 545-8585 Osaka, Japan; Forensic Autopsy Section, Medico-legal Consultation and Postmortem Investigation Support Center, c/o Department of Legal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Asahi-machi 1-4-3, Abeno, 545-8585 Osaka, Japan. Electronic address: michi.leg@med.osaka-cu.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Michiue
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Asahi-machi 1-4-3, Abeno, 545-8585 Osaka, Japan; Forensic Autopsy Section, Medico-legal Consultation and Postmortem Investigation Support Center, c/o Department of Legal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Asahi-machi 1-4-3, Abeno, 545-8585 Osaka, Japan; Division of Legal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, 86 Nishi-cho, Yonago, Tottori 683-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Takaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Asahi-machi 1-4-3, Abeno, 545-8585 Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oritani
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Asahi-machi 1-4-3, Abeno, 545-8585 Osaka, Japan; Forensic Autopsy Section, Medico-legal Consultation and Postmortem Investigation Support Center, c/o Department of Legal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Asahi-machi 1-4-3, Abeno, 545-8585 Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maeda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001344:Autopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D005390:Fires; D005391:Firesetting Behavior; D049429:Forensic Pathology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D054527:Mass Casualty Incidents; D008875:Middle Aged
keywords: Fire; Forensic autopsy; Mass disaster; Scene reconstruction