Japanese retailer Aeon said on Wednesday it would offer early compensation to relatives of tenant shop workers killed in an explosion at Aeon Mall Kumamoto in Kashima, Kumamoto Prefecture, without waiting for legal responsibility to be determined.
Aeon announces early compensation plan for families of workers killed in post-earthquake shopping mall explosion
Japanese retailer Aeon said on Wednesday it would offer early compensation to relatives of tenant shop workers killed in an explosion at Aeon Mall Kumamoto in Kashima, Kumamoto Prefecture, without waiting for legal responsibility to be determined.
The earthquake struck at approximately 4:27 p.m. on July 28, registering up to intensity 7 on Japan's seismic intensity scale, the highest level.
Aeon confirmed the evacuation of customers, its own employees, and tenant shop workers from the mall by around 5 p.m. that day. Aeon employees subsequently allowed some tenant workers to re-enter the building to retrieve personal belongings such as car keys and mobile phones, the company said Tuesday.
An explosion occurred at approximately 5:50 p.m., killing seven tenant employees. Japan's industry ministry said on Aug. 5 that liquefied petroleum gas is highly likely to have been the cause.
Keiji Ono, president of Aeon Mall — the facility's operator — has met with bereaved relatives to explain the circumstances and apologize.
Aeon said it has not disclosed details of the compensation it plans to provide. The company also said it plans to establish a committee of outside experts to investigate the cause of the explosion and recommend measures to prevent a recurrence.
- The specific amounts or terms of the compensation Aeon plans to provide have not been disclosed.
- The positions or responses of the bereaved families regarding the compensation offer are not included.
- Whether any regulatory or criminal investigation into the decision to allow re-entry is underway is not stated.
- The identities of the seven workers who died are not given.
- The basis on which Aeon employees decided to allow tenant workers to re-enter after evacuation is not explained.
Read the original at The Japan Times