Two people are dead following a fire in the apartment of Upper House member Kuniko Inoguchi

Two people died on Wednesday evening after a fire broke out in the Tokyo residence of Upper House member Kuniko Inoguchi.

Her 80-year-old husband, retired University of Tokyo professor Takashi Inoguchi, and her eldest daughter, who is in her 30s, remain unknown.

At approximately 7:10 p.m., an eyewitness called police and reported hearing a fire alarm and smelling burning from a six-story apartment building in Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward.

Two unidentified people failed to escape from the fire in the parliamentarians’ apartment, which is located on the sixth floor of the building. One of them died on the spot, the other died after being taken to hospital.

According to media reports, Inoguchi’s husband and eldest daughter were captured on security footage entering the apartment building separately around 5 p.m. on Wednesday. The MP was at work in Nagatacho when the fire broke out. Her younger daughter was also at work.

Inoguchi, a former minister of gender equality, lives with her husband, a renowned political scientist, and two daughters.

According to the fire brigade, the fire burned 150 square meters of the sixth floor and was almost extinguished around midnight. About 40 fire engines were dispatched to extinguish the fire.

The police are working to establish the identity of the two people who died in the fire and the causes of the incident.