The government said rescuers working through the night pulled eight people from the Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping centre, where the blast struck after the quake. Two of those rescued women in their 20s were confirmed dead, while another person was reported to be in cardiopulmonary arrest. ‘Like volcanic ash was falling’Video from the scene showed the force of the blast at the shopping centre — home to about 200 stores — shearing away part of one side, exposing steel beams and scattering debris across a parking lot. Kazuya Tsurunaga told TBS he was cleaning up dishes shattered by the earthquake inside a pub roughly 300 metres from the Aeon shopping centre when the blast hit. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said there were no irregularities reported at nuclear power stations in the area.