2 dead at quake-hit Kumamoto Pref. shopping mall after blast

TOKYO - Two women were confirmed dead and one woman was found unresponsive, local authorities said Wednesday, hours after an explosion rocked a shopping mall on Japan's southwestern main island of Kyushu following a powerful magnitude-7.1 earthquake.

A gas leak is suspected as the cause of the blast after the quake struck Kumamoto Prefecture at around 4:27 p.m. on Tuesday, according to a government source. Ten people were unaccounted for at the site earlier, according to the prefectural government.