Former professional baseball player and TV personality Kazushige Nagashima (59) appeared on the station’s “Hatori Shinichi Morning Show” (Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.) as a commentator on January 28. He commented on the massive fire that broke out while repairing the exterior walls of a high-rise residential complex in Dapu, New Territories, northern Hong Kong. Kazushige Nagashima, “I’m telling you this because I graduated,” confessed that his daughter attended the school. Firefighters were unable to enter the building due to its severely damaged and highly dangerous interior, making firefighting difficult. According to fire officials, the number of confirmed fatalities rose to 94. A large number of people are unaccounted for, and authorities are hurrying to confirm their safety. A fire broke out in the afternoon of January 26, destroying seven buildings in the same block. At a press conference on the 27th, top government administrator Li Jiachao said, “The seven buildings are basically under control (of the fire),” but as of the evening of the 27th, it was confirmed that the fire was still burning in at least several places. In commenting on the fires, Kazushige said, “I used to live in a high-rise building, and after the 9/11 attacks, emergency parachutes were sold very well. After the 9/11 attacks, emergency parachutes sold very well. I think almost everyone who lives in a high-rise building in New York has one. There is an emergency parachute that you can attach to yourself in the event of a fire, and it has a hook at the end of it, and when you attach the hook somewhere inside the room and jump off the balcony, the hook extends and the parachute opens,” he continued. and you may be able to deal with it without losing your reason to the end,” he pointed out. He continued, “In other words, when your life is in danger, you panic, as I think everyone does. When you panic, the risk of losing your life increases, so I think it is a good idea to have something like that with you. If you have a balcony, of course you can use it, but that doesn’t mean you will be 100% safe. I don’t think they have ever practiced parachuting. But I think there is a sense of security in having it, so I think that is one way to deal with it,” he said.
