Aeon Allowed Workers to Return to Kumamoto Mall before Blast

Tokyo, Aug. 11 (Jiji Press)–Japanese retailer Aeon Co. said Tuesday that it permitted some workers at shops in Aeon Mall Kumamoto to re-enter the earthquake-hit commercial facility just before a fatal explosion occurred there July 28. Workers at shops in Aeon Mall Kumamoto in Kashima, Kumamoto Prefecture, evacuated after a massive earthquake hit the southwestern prefecture that day. But some of them asked to return to their shops to collect personal items such as car keys and mobile phones and to secure the cash registers, and Aeon permitted temporary re-entry, the company said. The explosion killed seven shop workers who returned to the facility, raising questions about Aeon’s judgment. Aeon explained that many workers at the facility commuted by car and that some became unable to return home. But the company’s quake disaster response rules do not stipulate how to address the need to collect personal belongings or respond to situations in which workers have become unable to return home. Aeon said it will revise the rules to allow shopping facility workers to carry their valuables on them during work to eliminate the need to re-enter facilities after evacuation. The Kumamoto quake, which registered a seismic intensity of up to 7, the highest level on the Japanese scale, occurred around 4:30 p.m. July 28. According to Aeon, the office of Aeon Mall Kumamoto at 5:21 p.m. announced the cancellation of the day’s business operations and instructions to return home to workers of shops in the facility through its safety confirmation system. Aeon made no announcement on the day that its evacuation instructions had been lifted or that workers were allowed to re-enter the facility. The explosion occurred around 5:50 p.m. Aeon does not know who was allowed to re-enter or how the situation was at the scene, so the company will look into details through an accident investigation committee of outside experts. “We take it seriously that people on the scene were left to make judgments because of the lack of rules, manuals and training and operation systems to deal with situations after evacuation,” an Aeon official said. At a news conference July 29, Aeon President Akio Yoshida said, “Rules in our manuals say that those who have evacuated must not re-enter the buildings.” Any such re-entry would be “an act that deviates from the rules,” he also said. “If you ask me whether the rules had not been thoroughly enforced, I guess that may be the case.” On Tuesday, many people including Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura visited the facility to offer flowers for the victims two weeks after the disaster. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]