Kumamoto Earthquake: AEON Dream Mall Explosion Leads to Loss of Wife; Husband Regrets Not Telling Her 'Don't Go Back'

The explosion at AEON Dream Mall Kumamoto in Kagoshima Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, caused multiple casualties. Among them, a 39-year-old woman lost her life, and her husband is still haunted by guilt over her last phone call. He says, 'My wife, who worked at the mall, called to report she was safe before the explosion, but I didn't tell her not to go back. That's my biggest regret.'

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, the husband recalls that on the afternoon of July 28, shortly after the earthquake, his wife called to check on their 13-year-old son, who was in the first year of junior high school, and to talk about the situation at home. The call lasted about 3 minutes before ending. Soon after, an explosion occurred at the mall, and when he tried to call his wife again, he could no longer reach her.

After the accident, he went to the scene every day, barely eating or sleeping. Three days later, he received a call from the police and saw his wife for the last time at the morgue. Seeing the injuries on his wife's body, he could no longer hold back his tears.

The deceased woman was the manager of a clothing store on the second floor of the mall. Her husband said, 'She was a very responsible person. Perhaps she wanted to restore operations later and went back to tidy up the scene. I regret not telling her 'Don't go back' on the phone.'

The police stated that the woman's body was found near the backstage employee exit, and it is believed that she was crushed by falling objects. They also explained to the family, 'The time she suffered should have been very short.'

The couple had known each other since junior high school and had been married for 15 years but never had the chance to hold a wedding ceremony. They had promised each other, 'Someday, we'll take wedding photos.'

The husband had previously worked as a chef and often made Italian dishes and tamagoyaki for his wife. Although his wife always enjoyed eating them, she rarely gave a perfect score. 'I always dreamed of making a dish that would make her speechless,' he said.

At the funeral, the husband decided to display the wedding dress his wife had always wanted to wear and put the only tamagoyaki she had ever rated '100 points' into the coffin to accompany her. Finally, he looked up at the sky and choked up, saying, 'If the explosion had been 10 seconds later... From now on, I will fulfill her dreams one by one with my son.'