Two women who died in an explosion at an Aeon shopping centre following a powerful earthquake in Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture last week were instructed by their employer to return inside to put sales proceeds in a safe, according to the company.
Two executives of Habita, which operates the variety store where the women died, said on Sunday they apologised to the family of one of the victims, 22-year-old Kurumi Otake, at her wake and handed over a written account of events.
Otake evacuated from the Aeon shopping centre in Kashima following the magnitude 7.1 temblor on Tuesday but was later seen re-entering the building.
“[My daughter] isn’t coming back,” Otake’s mother said in tears.
A male relative told reporters that Otake “had a strong sense of responsibility,” adding, “We had just been joking around laughing” at a family gathering about three months earlier.