‘Like volcanic ash falling’: Inside Aeon mall after Japan’s earthquake

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing its staff reporting and Reuters, reported that rescuers in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, were searching the damaged Aeon Mall in Kashima after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake on Tuesday was followed by an explosion at the shopping complex. The blast tore through parts of the building, exposing structural steel and scattering debris into the parking area, after staff had moved thousands of shoppers and employees out of the mall.

According to the report, first responders pulled eight people from the partly collapsed site early Wednesday; three of them were dead. Aeon said three shop workers were still unaccounted for and that it was examining whether a gas leak may have caused the explosion. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described the rescue effort as a race against time, and about 170 soldiers were deployed to support operations.

Witnesses described panic, gridlocked roads, sirens and heavy dust after the blast. A nearby business owner told Japanese media he initially thought a bomb had exploded, while another witness compared the falling dust to volcanic ash. Police and firefighters were cautious about entering the wreckage because of the risk of further collapse, with more than 100 aftershocks recorded in Kumamoto by the end of Tuesday.

Aeon President Akio Yoshida said 3,000 shoppers were evacuated within about 30 minutes of the quake, but some employees apparently remained inside or returned before the explosion roughly 50 minutes later. The mall had reopened the previous month after repairs and safety upgrades following the deadly 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, adding scrutiny to how the latest damage occurred.