Aeon apologises for deaths in Kumamoto mall blast after quake

"I seriously take the situation in which precious lives were lost and deeply apologise to the bereaved families," Yoshida told a press conference in the city of Kumamoto, the capital of the namesake southwestern Japan prefecture struck by the earthquake, which registered up to 7, the highest level on Japan's seismic intensity scale.

The victims were confirmed to be shop workers at the facility in the town of Kashima in the prefecture, according to Yoshida.

At the press conference, Aeon said that about 3,000 customers were in Aeon Mall Kumamoto on Tuesday. Around 5 pm Tuesday, about 30 minutes after the earthquake struck, employees evacuated all customers to areas outside the facility building, and a report was made to Aeon's head office saying that the evacuation was complete for all customers and almost all workers.
   
The explosion occurred on the second floor of the facility around 5.50pm the same day, and the incident was reported to police and fire authorities. Work to confirm the safety of a total of about 2,700 Aeon group employees and staff workers at 204 shops in the facility was conducted later.

Eight shop workers are believed to have been in the facility at the time of the explosion. Three have been confirmed dead, and one is in cardiopulmonary arrest, while the status of three others remains unknown, according to the company.
   
The company's guidelines stipulate that employees and others should not return to facilities after evacuation in times of earthquakes or other emergencies.
   
"We have not been able to confirm whether the shop workers did not evacuate or returned to the facility after evacuation, Yoshida said.

   
The explosion is believed to have occurred along the liquefied petroleum gas supply route from a gas tank outside the building to the restaurant area in the facility, according to Yoshida. A gas leak is highly likely to be the cause of the explosion, he said.
   
"While placing top priority on saving lives, we will make our best efforts to identify the cause by sharing information with fire authorities," Yoshida said.

12 Dead, 6 others in cardiac arrest after Japan quake

The death toll from Tuesday's powerful earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan has reached 12, the prefectural disaster response headquarters said Wednesday.

Six other people were in a state of cardiac arrest as of 2pm Wednesday, the headquarters said.
   
While the full extent of the damage remains unclear, police, firefighters and Self-Defense Forces personnel are continuing search-and-rescue operations in areas devastated by the earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.1.

Earlier on Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that the number of deaths had reached 13, including cases whose connection to the disaster was still being investigated.

At Nippon Paper Industries Co.'s plant in Yatsushiro, a chimney collapsed, trapping 11 workers. Five of the seven people rescued have since died.

Numerous houses collapsed in the prefecture. A total of 8,886 people are taking shelter at 432 evacuation centres. Fire departments received 1,354 emergency calls, including 393 requests for dispatches in response to fires and other incidents.

Water outages have affected at least 65,000 households in municipalities such as the cities of Uki, Uto and Yatsushiro as well as the town of Hikawa.

Power outages have impacted around 34,880 households. With temperatures forecast to climb over 35 degrees Celsius in the coming days, authorities have urged residents to take precautions against heatstroke.

In 2016, Kumamoto was hit by earthquakes registering the maximum seismic intensity of 7 on April 14 and April 16. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that earthquakes of up to seismic intensity 7 could occur over the next week and urged residents to remain vigilant.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]