Two evacuated employees who died in Japan's Aeon Mall explosion told to return inside by employer

TOKYO - Two women who died in an explosion at an Aeon shopping mall in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, had originally safely evacuated following a major earthquake but were ordered back inside to secure cash, Xinhua reported.

The operator of the variety store chain, Habita, on Monday admitted to having given the instruction. The company had since apologised to the bereaved family members and handed over a written account of events.

After Tuesday's magnitude 7.1 earthquake, which registered up to 7, the highest level on Japan's seismic intensity scale, a massive explosion ripped through the Aeon Mall Kumamoto building in Kashima Town, killing seven people, including the two employees.

The two, including a 22-year-old woman, had initially evacuated the mall after the powerful quake, but were told to return inside to put cash in a safe.

Koji Yuse, 64, sales manager at Kumamoto-based Habita, told reporters on Monday afternoon that he had instructed the store manager to have the two employees reenter the building and move the day's sales proceeds from the store on the second floor to a safe on the first floor.

Yuse said, "I think the order was inappropriate. I deeply regret it."

The Kumamoto prefectural government said that as of Tuesday morning, 36 people had been confirmed dead as a direct result of the earthquake, with two other deaths still under investigation. - BERNAMA