Executives of Habita, which operates the variety store, say they have apologised to the family of one of the victims at her wake
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenKyodoPublished: 12:24pm, 3 Aug 2026Two 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.
