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Thirty-three people have died and dozens have been injured in an arson attack at an animation studio in Japan.

Police have arrested a man who allegedly poured an accelerant - thought to be fuel - around the three-storey anime studio in Kyoto.

It is the worst mass killing in Japan in almost two decades.

"A man threw a liquid and set fire to it," a Kyoto police spokesman told news agency AFP.

Police detained a 41-year-old man who had shouted "die" as he poured what appeared to be petrol around the building.

Pictures show smoke and flames pouring out of the windows.

(Image: REUTERS)

Police also found knives at the scene, say local media.

A GoFundMe has raised $275,000 and is rising by the thousands every hour.

Shiro Misaki, a 47-year old owner of a neighbourhood bar five minutes from studio, said he was driving nearby when he saw the thick smoke.

"Policemen were stopping traffic and it was really hazy with smoke," he said.

"Even after I got back to my restaurant I could smell the smoke."

(Image: NHK)

Detectives are treating the case as an arson and the arrested man has already admitted to starting the fire, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reports.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the incident was 'too appalling for words'.

The newspaper states that roughly 20 people thought to be inside the Kyoto Animation building are missing.

Residents told reporters that they heard an explosion in the studio and then saw the fire.

A man working nearby told NHK he was in his office when an explosion went off at around 10.30am.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

He told the broadcaster that he went outside and saw flames and smoke coming from the top two floors of the three-storey studio.

Kyodo News reports that one local saw bloody footprints and a person with singed hair lying down at the scene.

Kyoto Animation, known as KyoAni, makes popular television shows and also publishes anime books.

(Image: NHK)

It is understood that around 70 workers were in the studio at the time of the fire.

Up to 30 fire engines have been sent to the scene to tackle the blaze.

The injured suspect is receiving treatment in hospital, according to NHK.