Kumamoto - A 9-minute, 13-second drone video filmed inside Aeon Mall Kumamoto two days after the deadly explosion has provided a detailed view of the destruction, showing collapsed ceilings, heavy dust and widespread damage that may have affected between one-third and nearly half of the shopping center.
August 28 marks one month since the Kumamoto earthquake and the explosion that occurred at the mall on the day of the disaster.
The drone footage was recorded on July 30 at the request of a private disaster-prevention organization. Megumi Uemura of drone developer Terra Drone was responsible for the operation.
"Because Aeon Mall is such a familiar sight, I was shocked by how completely the color had disappeared," Uemura said.
At the time of the operation, investigators had yet to establish the cause of the explosion and there was still concern that people could remain trapped inside the building.
"There was still a possibility that people were inside, so I felt some anxiety about how much we would actually be able to do," Uemura said.
The drone entered the building through an employee entrance on the first floor near the center of the mall to check whether anyone had been left behind.
Uemura said the effects of the earthquake were visible around the employee entrance, but the direct impact of the explosion did not initially appear severe.
Because the drone team was unfamiliar with the safest route through the building, members of the Self-Defense Forces who had repeatedly traveled through the interior helped guide the aircraft with lights.
As the drone moved deeper into the mall, dust increasingly obscured visibility.
It proceeded through an area lined with tenant stores before heading toward the second floor, where the damage from the explosion was much more severe.
The scene changed dramatically after the drone reached the upper floor, with sections of the ceiling completely missing.
The aircraft then continued into areas believed to have sustained some of the heaviest damage from the blast.
"Everyone was honestly left speechless," Uemura said. "It felt like a completely different world, something unreal."
Seven tenant employees were killed in the explosion at Aeon Mall Kumamoto.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has said that investigations so far indicate the accident was most likely caused by an LP gas explosion.
Uemura said the footage appeared to show the area where the effects of the explosion were particularly severe.
Inside the mall, stripped of much of its usual color, some store signs could still barely be identified.
Diagonally across from one such sign was the store where two employees had worked before they were killed in the explosion. The two had returned to the mall after the evacuation under company instructions to place sales proceeds back into a safe.
Sunlight streamed through gaps left by the collapsed ceiling, illuminating the damaged interior.
While the destruction appeared concentrated in one section when viewed from outside, the drone footage showed that the effects extended much farther through the building.
Uemura estimated that between one-third and nearly half of the mall may have been affected.
As August 28 marks one month since the Kumamoto earthquake, investigators continue working to determine exactly what happened inside Aeon Mall Kumamoto and establish the cause of the deadly explosion.
Source: TBS
