Habita, the operator of a cosmetics store where two employees died, said it instructed the workers, who had evacuated outdoors after the earthquake, to return the store's sales proceeds to a safe. The two employees followed the request and were caught in the explosion inside the mall. Habita also acknowledged that it issued similar instructions to employees at three other stores in Kumamoto Prefecture. The company told reporters that employees at the three other stores had also been asked to place sales proceeds in their safes. The explosion occurred at around 5:50 p.m., after which the company lost contact with the three employees.