Fire at Yakiniku restaurant in Hakata Ward, Fukuoka City, 1 person transported by ambulance

Around 9 p.m. on the 19th, a male employee called 119 at Daitoen Honten, a yakiniku restaurant in Kamikawabata-cho, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, saying, ``Sparks and smoke were coming from the roaster.''

According to the Fukuoka Prefectural Police Hakata Police Station, white smoke was observed near the second floor at the scene, and firefighters are working to extinguish the fire. Store staff reportedly evacuated customers.

There is information that one person, who appeared to have panicked, was rushed to the hospital.

At Daitoen Main Store, in April 2022, a 911 call was made saying that a roaster was on fire, and a fire started on the 4th floor of a 7-story building and was raging.

According to the restaurant's website, Daitoen is a yakiniku restaurant founded in 1970 in Hakata, Fukuoka.

According to a male staff member at Daitoen Main Store, he heard that smoke was coming from the second floor, so he turned off all the gas and evacuated all customers outside.

After the last fire, they shared the location of fire extinguishers and what to do in case of a fire, so they were able to evacuate more smoothly than last time. "I can't believe I'll see this scene again..."

A man in his 60s, an office worker, was eating with three friends on the second floor when smoke started to spread around the time he finished eating, and the staff told him to ``please evacuate because the bill is fine.''

Smoke was coming from the table where customers were grilling meat on the second floor, and as they were running away, they said they heard a crackling sound. ``I knew about the (earlier) fire because I saw it on the news.It's been two or three years since I've been here, and something like this has happened,'' he said, looking worried.

My wife and I were having dinner on the second floor...