An explosion at AEON Mall Kumamoto killed three specialty-store employees and left one in cardiopulmonary arrest on Wednesday evening, roughly 90 minutes after a magnitude-7 earthquake struck the region. Four others were hospitalised and three remain unaccounted for, AEON said.
About 3,000 shoppers were inside the Kashima-town mall when the quake hit at 4:27 p.m. Staff evacuated all customers outdoors within 30 minutes, but the blast erupted at 5:50 p.m. on the second floor of the building's south wing. Fire authorities suspect an LP gas leak along a supply line running from an external tank to the food-court area. AEON noted the facility has used LP gas since opening and that pipes were inspected regularly.
AEON President Akio Yoshida apologised to victims' families, acknowledging that some staff may have re-entered the building against post-evacuation rules. The mall, which reopened after damage in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes, had been retrofitted to current seismic standards.