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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Disasters & Emergencies

Japan Mall Explosion: Employer Admits Fatal Order to Re-enter Building After Quake

From Tempo · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Two employees died in an explosion at AEON Mall in Kumamoto, Japan, after returning to the building on their employer's instructions to secure cash.
  • The incident occurred after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kumamoto, and the employer, Habita Inc., has admitted the instructions were a grave mistake.
  • The revelation has intensified scrutiny over workplace safety during disasters, with the company considering an internal investigation.

Two young employees died in a fatal explosion at AEON Mall in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, after returning to the building on their employer's instructions to secure the store's cash. The incident followed a powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck the region on July 28.

The instructions given at the time were inappropriate, and I truly regret them.

— Yuse KojiHabita sales director admitting the company's grave mistake in instructing employees to re-enter the mall after an earthquake.

Habita Inc., the company operating the variety store where the victims worked, acknowledged that both employees had been instructed to re-enter the mall after initially evacuating. One of the deceased was identified as 22-year-old Kurumi Otake. Habita sales director Yuse Koji admitted the decision was a grave mistake, stating, "The instructions given at the time were inappropriate, and I truly regret them." The company has offered its deepest apologies to the victims' families.

My daughter isn't coming back.

— Otake's motherExpressing grief during her daughter's wake.

Otake's mother described her daughter as a responsible young woman devoted to supporting her family. A male relative recalled Otake's "strong sense of responsibility." According to witness accounts, Otake had explained to a relative shortly after the earthquake that she had to return to the store because her employer instructed her to move money from the cash register into a safe. The relative lamented that the tragedy might have been avoided had she not been asked to reenter the building, saying, "If she hadn't gone back inside the store at that time, Kurumi would still be with her family today."

If she hadn't gone back inside the store at that time, Kurumi would still be with her family today.

— Otake's relativeLamenting the tragic outcome of the employer's instructions.

Yuse later acknowledged the devastating consequences of the decision, telling reporters, "Looking back now, it was not worth a life." Habita, founded in 1976, operates over 10 stores in Japan's Kyushu region and stated it would cooperate with any investigations and review its emergency response procedures. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.

Looking back now, it was not worth a life.

— Yuse KojiReflecting on the fatal consequences of the company's decision.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Tempo in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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