The blaze raged for half the night before it was extinguished by firefighters.
In the morning, upon receiving the news, Aoyama Xiu Xin rushed to the scene to find the house reduced to smoking rubble, already cordoned off by police tape with a large crowd of onlookers and reporters who had rushed over upon hearing the news. Dozens of police officers were maintaining order, rebuking those who tried to cross the police line.
As Xiu Xin's car arrived, although the reporters could not yet see clearly who was inside, they all knew it must be a senior police officer and surged forward.
Xiu Xin, upon seeing this, didn't hurry out of the car.
Over a dozen police officers quickly came to his aid, surrounding his car to block the reporters from swarming the vehicle.
"Step back! Everyone step back! Don't push!"
"Clear the way! Don't crowd!"
Only after seeing the reporters separated by a human wall did Xiu Xin confidently open the car door and get out.
