Company apologises after employees who had evacuated following a powerful earthquake were instructed to re-enter the damaged building.
Two store workers who had safely evacuated a shopping mall after a powerful earthquake in southern Japan were later ordered by their employer to re-enter the building to secure cash, and were killed in a subsequent explosion, the company has admitted.
The employees, who worked at a Habita general goods store inside Aeon Mall in Kashima, Kumamoto Prefecture, died in the blast that tore through the complex on July 28. One of the victims has been identified as 22-year-old Kurumi Otake. The identity of the second worker has not been made public.
Habita sales director Goji Yuse apologised to the families, saying the instructions given at the time were “inappropriate”. “Looking back now, it was not worth a life,” he told reporters, according to Japanese media reports. Company representatives attended Otake’s wake on Sunday and expressed regret over the “loss of two precious lives”.
Two Workers Killed After Returning to Quake-Hit Mall:
The magnitude 6.8 to 7.1 earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture on the afternoon of July 28, causing widespread damage, power outages and infrastructure disruptions. Authorities have put the overall death toll from the quake at around 38, with seven of those fatalities occurring at Aeon Mall.
Mall operators said approximately 3,000 customers and more than 1,000 staff were inside when the shaking began. Most were evacuated to a car park within about 30 minutes. However, about 50 minutes after the initial quake, Habita’s sales manager instructed the two employees-via the store manager-to return and place the day’s cash register proceeds into a safe in the backroom.
Otake’s family said she encountered relatives outside the mall after evacuating and told them she had been asked by the company to move the money. Despite attempts to stop her, she and her colleague went back inside. The explosion, which investigators have linked to a possible gas leak, occurred shortly afterwards and caused part of the structure to collapse.
Japan Reviews Workplace Safety After Fatal Mall Blast:
Habita said the workers were told to obtain permission from Aeon before re-entering, but it was unclear whether they did so. The company has said it is reviewing the incident and considering further measures.
The tragedy has drawn attention to workplace safety decisions in the chaotic aftermath of natural disasters. Japanese authorities ended search-and-rescue operations at the mall after confirming no further missing persons remained at the site. Recovery efforts continue across the wider prefecture, where thousands of homes were damaged and many residents remained in shelters in the days following the quake.
The company has pledged to prioritise employee safety going forward as investigations into both the earthquake damage and the mall explosion continue.