Affected by a strong earthquake, a blast and collapse occurred at the large Japanese mall "Mall Yokohama Kumamoto" on July 28, resulting in 7 deaths. Among them, two female employees from the household goods store HABITA managed to escape, but unfortunately lost their lives while returning to take over the business.
On August 3rd, the Japanese newspaper Kyodo News revealed more details.
On the same day, the funeral of one of the female staff members, Otsuka Kyuruumi (22 years old), was held at a funeral home in Kumamoto City.
On that day, the temperature in the county reached 40 degrees Celsius for the first time, and many relatives and friends came to bid her farewell under the scorching sun. Dazhu had been involved in volleyball since junior high school and high school. She was a "strict but cheerful team leader". The people who came to pay their respects wiped away their tears and clasped their hands together as they bid farewell to her coffin.
According to HABITA Company, after the earthquake on July 28th, Odate and another female employee in their 20s were evacuated outdoors for a while.
Subsequently, the store manager Tang Se Gan said to the manager: "If possible, can we put the revenue from sales in the cash box?" The cash register is located on the second floor of the store, and the cash box is located on the first floor. The manager then called the female employee to instruct her to return to the mall.
After Da Zhú and another female employee re-entered the building, they unfortunately encountered an explosion.
HABITA Chairman Yan Fengjing met with the bereaved families of two deceased employees and apologized. The company stated that they had requested female staff obtain permission from Yong Wang Dream Castle before entering the facility after communicating with mall staff.
Da Zhu's mother cried after receiving an apology from the company and said, " (My daughter) won't be coming back."
"The HABITA branch manager who attended the memorial ceremony said: 'Looking back now, I don't think it was worth risking my life for.' "
The picture shows the "Yongwang Dream City Kumamoto" where an explosion occurred. Kyodo News (same below)
According to the HABITA official website, the company was established in 1976 and operates several stores in areas such as Kumamoto in Kyushu region.
According to Kyodo News, the earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture occurred at around 4:27 PM on July 28, resulting in 38 deaths. Among these deaths, 7 people died in the explosion at Yue Wang MENGLECHENG Kumamoto, and 9 people died due to the collapse of the chimney at the Nippon Paper Industries Odaiba factory. Additionally, 15 people suffered serious injuries.
According to Japanese media reports, one week has passed since the earthquake in Kumamoto County on April 4th, but the water cut situation has not been resolved, affecting approximately 45,000 households. Currently, over 8,000 disaster victims are living in 150 shelters, and many also reside in cars.
On the 4th, affected residents collected water at the resettlement site.
On the 4th, long queues of residents in Kumamoto Prefecture formed, waiting for water trucks to deliver water. Due to continuous high temperatures, some residents in water-scarce areas couldn’t even take showers.
An 81-year-old man came to the settlement to fetch water, expressing his dire situation: "I have to carry four or five liters of water every day, which hurts my back. I can only bathe in well water, but I really want to take a bath."
