Rescuers haul survivors from wrecked Japanese mall after deadly earthquake

YATSUSHIRO, Japan – Rescuers frantically searched for survivors on Wednesday, a day after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook southern Japan, killing at least 13 people, knocking out power to thousands of homes and rupturing roads across the region.Eight people were pulled from the rubble of a partially collapsed shopping mall near the city of Kumamoto that was torn apart by an explosion just over an hour after Tuesday’s earthquake.Of them, three died.Another three workers at the shopping center remain unaccounted for after checks of the roughly 2,700 staff, Akio Yoshida, president of mall operator Aeon 8267.T, told a press briefing on Wednesday.

Customers had been evacuated right after the initial quake.“Even now, there are people waiting to be rescued, and this is a race against time,” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters in Tokyo.“We will marshal all available resources on the ground to save and rescue as many people as possible.”Overall, 13 people were killed, five were in cardiac arrest and at least eight others seriously injured, authorities said.

Hospitals were reported to be treating dozens of other patients.Authorities are investigating a possible gas explosion at the Aeon mall.Rescuers reported smelling gas inside the building, but the cause of the incident was still under investigation, said Japan’s top government spokesperson, Minoru Kihara.Emergency fire rescue teams, police and around 170 army personnel were focusing on areas of the building where calls for help had been received.

More than 4,500 troops have been deployed to help with recovery efforts across the quake zone.Five people died and another two were injured at a Nippon Paper Industries 3836.T factory where the quake knocked over a chimney, public broadcaster NHK said.A local government official earlier said seven were missing in the incident.Across the prefecture, which also suffered a deadly earthquake a decade ago, around 260,000 people were instructed to go to evacu...