"Put It in the Safe" — Returning Inside Led to Tragedy... Bereaved Family Cries Out "Now My Daughter Is Gone"

[Anchor]

Turning now to the strong earthquakes in Kumamoto, Japan. It has been revealed that some of the seven employees who died at the large shopping mall where an explosion occurred had returned to the stores following company orders before falling victim to the disaster. In the affected areas, secondary damage is also continuing amid extreme heat exceeding 40°C.

Correspondent Mun Junmo reports from Tokyo.

[Reporter]

The Aeon Mall explosion on the 28th of last month.

While 3,000 visitors and others evacuated safely, seven employees working at in-store shops lost their lives.


Kurumi Otake, a 22-year-old employee at a general merchandise store, had initially evacuated before the accident, but met her fate because she returned to the store.

[Bereaved Family: (Otake) said she had to go back to the store once because the company told her to put the sales revenue in the safe.]

According to Aeon Mall's manual, returning to the premises is prohibited until safety is confirmed when an earthquake occurs.

Company representatives who visited the mortuary bowed their heads.

[Company Representative: We deeply apologize to the bereaved families.]

[Otake's Mother: My daughter can never come back.]

Police are expanding their investigation, believing that other employees may have followed similar instructions.

As extreme heat exceeding 40°C rages on, residents are suffering from threats to their survival.

In Hikawa Village, which was struck by the maximum intensity level 7 shock, a woman in her 70s living in her car died.

At the time she was found, the car had run out of fuel, leaving the air conditioner inoperable.

Believed to be a heatstroke death, it appears to be the first disaster-related death stemming from this earthquake.

Including this woman, the death toll from the earthquake has risen to 38, but casualties could increase further.

About 46,000 households are still experiencing inconvenience due to water outages, and aside from the roughly 8,300 people currently staying at around 160 shelters, a considerable number of residents are living in cars or tents.

Prime Minister Takaichi inspected Kumamoto in person six days after the earthquake struck.

Passing over the Aeon Mall where victims occurred and the Nippon Paper Industries plant aboard a Self-Defense Forces helicopter, she clasped her hands in prayer to mourn before visiting a shelter in Hikawa Village.

[Sanae Takaichi / Japanese Prime Minister: Please tell us what is difficult or what worries you. The government will do whatever it can.]

The Japanese government announced that it has begun accepting applications for secondary shelters such as hotels and inns, while launching large-scale support measures including the installation of emergency temporary housing and securing vehicle fuel.

(Video取材: Han Chel-min, Moon Hyun-jin | Video Editing: Kim Byung-jik)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.