Police identify prime suspect in Japan clinic fire which killed 24 people

He is being treated in serious condition after he was rescued from the fire, police said. He has not been formally arrested or charged

A mourner prays in front of offerings near a building where the fire broke out in Osaka (Kyodo News via AP/PA)

Japanese police have identified a 61-year-old man as a prime suspect behind a fire that engulfed a mental clinic in an eight-storey building where he was a patient, killing 24 people who were trapped inside.

The government also announced plans to inspect tens of thousands of similar buildings nationwide.