At least 33 people have died in a fire at an animation studio in the Japanese city of Kyoto.

Fire department official Satoshi Fujiwara said a further 36 people were injured in the blaze, some of them critically with many of them suffering from burns.

Image: Officials believe petrol was used to start the blaze

The blaze broke out at 10:30am local time after a man burst into Kyoto Animation and reportedly shouted "die!" as he poured what appeared to be petrol around the studio.

More than 70 people were in the three-storey building at the time, with many fleeing the premises when the alarm was raised.

"There was an explosion, then I heard people shouting, some asking for help," a witness told TBS TV.


"Black smoke was rising from windows on upper floors. Ten there was a man struggling to crawl out of the window."

Image: At least 70 people were in the building at the time

A 41-year-old suspect is in custody and is being investigated on suspicion of arson. He was also injured and taken to hospital for treatment.

Police said he was not a company employee and gave no other details.

A witness who saw the suspect being approached by police told public broadcaster NHK that he had burns on his arms and legs and that he was angrily complaining that something of his had been "stolen".

Image: Firefighters searched the building for survivors

Footage showed smoke billowing from the fire-ravaged building, and emergency services at the scene battling the blaze and tending to the injured.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described the fire as "too appalling for words" on Twitter and offered his condolences to the families of the victims.

Hideaki Hatta, president of Kyoto Animation, said the company had received anonymous death threats by email in the past, but he did not link them to Thursday's attack.

"My heart is in extreme pain. Why on earth did such violence have to be used?" he said.

Image: A 41-year-old suspect was taken into custody

Kyoto Animation, known as KyoAni, was founded in 1981 as an animation and comic book production studio.

It is known for stories featuring high school girls including Lucky Star, K-On! and Haruhi Suzumiya.

The studio also produces the Sound! Euphonium series and its Free! Road to the World - The Dream movie is due for release this month.

The company does not have a major presence outside Japan, though it was hired to do secondary animation work on a 1998 Pokemon feature that appeared in US cinemas and a Winnie the Pooh video.