Two women were confirmed dead and one woman was found unresponsive, local authorities said Wednesday, hours after an explosion rocked a shopping mall on Japan's southwestern main island of Kyushu following a powerful magnitude-7.1 earthquake.
A gas leak is suspected as the cause of the blast after the quake struck Kumamoto Prefecture at around 4:27 p.m. on Tuesday, according to a government source. Ten people were unaccounted for at the site earlier, according to the prefectural government.
The Self-Defense Forces engaged in rescue operations at Aeon Mall Kumamoto in Kashima, with Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi saying about 3,600 SDF personnel have been mobilized across the disaster-hit area.
The operator, Aeon Co., said the explosion occurred after employees and customers had been evacuated from the shopping mall following the powerful temblor.
About 200 people got out before the explosion, the prefectural police said. It is feared that many others remain trapped inside the building after the second floor collapsed, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
A person who contacted an employee stranded in the building was told that multiple people were waiting to be rescued.
A shopper who evacuated said people were seen returning to the building after initially fleeing in the immediate aftermath of the temblor.
The mall is located just outside the city of Kumamoto.
An Aeon spokesperson at its headquarters in Chiba, east of Tokyo, said a person in charge had reported that everyone had evacuated, based on visual confirmation. The report was followed over 30 minutes later by news of the explosion, the official said.
Ceilings and walls at Aeon Mall Kumamoto collapsed, exposing the building's steel frame, while debris was scattered around the complex.
A 44-year-old man who runs a nearby hair salon said he heard a loud noise that sounded like a large vehicle colliding with something.
"I saw a plume of white smoke right after (the explosion)," he said.
