Aeon Apologizes for Deaths in Kumamoto Mall Blast after Quake

Kumamoto, July 29 (Jiji Press)--Aeon Co. President and CEO Akio Yoshida apologized Wednesday for the deaths of three people following an explosion that occurred at the Japanese company's Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping facility after a powerful earthquake the previous day.

"I seriously take the situation in which precious lives were lost and deeply apologize to the bereaved families," Yoshida told a press conference in the city of Kumamoto, the capital of the namesake southwestern Japan prefecture struck by the earthquake, which registered up to 7, the highest level on Japan's seismic intensity scale.

The victims were confirmed to be shop workers at the facility in the town of Kashima in the prefecture, according to Yoshida.

At the press conference, Aeon said that about 3,000 customers were in Aeon Mall Kumamoto on Tuesday. Around 5 p.m. Tuesday, about 30 minutes after the earthquake struck, employees evacuated all customers to areas outside the facility building, and a report was made to Aeon's head office saying that the evacuation was complete for all customers and almost all workers.

The explosion occurred on the second floor of the facility around 5:50 p.m. the same day, and the incident was reported to police and fire authorities. Work to confirm the safety of a total of about 2,700 Aeon group employees and staff workers at 204 shops in the facility was conducted later.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]