Three firefighters and one police officer are missing after fire ripped through a warehouse early Sunday in the central Japan prefecture of Shizuoka, local officials said.

The four entered the warehouse at a factory operated by household product maker Lec Inc. in the town of Yoshida before flames engulfed the building, according to a local fire department.

Three other firefighters sustained minor injuries.

The fire department received an emergency call reporting the fire around 1:35 a.m. The warehouse, where sponges and sodium bicarbonate for household use were stored, was empty at the time, according to local police and Lec.

==Kyodo

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