After the quake came the blast: Inside Japan's shopping mall disaster

Workers at a shopping mall in southern Japan described being thrown to the floor or enveloped in dust during a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that shook the building on Tuesday. About an hour later, the situation turned deadly: an explosion tore through the mall, exposing steel beams and scattering debris into the parking lot. Early Wednesday, first responders extracted eight people from partially collapsed areas, including three who later died. The status of four store employees remained unknown, and Aeon—operator of the Kumamoto mall—said it was investigating a possible gas leak. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called it a “race against time,” with around 170 soldiers deployed to help rescue efforts.