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Explosion at U.S. air base in Kadena injures 4 Japan SDF members

Explosion at U.S. air base in Kadena injures 4 Japan SDF members

Japan Today12 hours ago

An explosion at a storage site for unexploded wartime ordnances at a U.S. military base on Japan's southern island of Okinawa injured four Japanese soldiers, though the injuries are not life threatening, officials said Monday.
The four soldiers had injuries to their fingers while working at a facility that belongs to Okinawa prefecture to store unexploded ordnance found on the island, where one of the harshest battles of World War II was fought, local officials said.
Prefectural officials said the injuries were not life threatening, but no other details were immediately known.
The Self Defense Force's joint staff said they were looking into reports of an explosion at Kadena Air Base that occurred while a team of Japanese soldiers that specializes in handling unexploded ordnance was working near or at the base.
The SDF said they are trying to confirm the cause of the accident and where it occurred.
Hundreds of tons of unexploded wartime bombs, many of them dropped by the U.S. military, remain buried around Japan and are sometimes dug up at construction sites and elsewhere.
In October, an unexploded wartime U.S. bomb exploded at a commercial airport in southern Japan, causing a large crater and suspending dozens of flights.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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4 in Okinawa unexploded bomb disposal unit hurt in explosion
4 in Okinawa unexploded bomb disposal unit hurt in explosion

Asahi Shimbun

time10 hours ago

  • Asahi Shimbun

4 in Okinawa unexploded bomb disposal unit hurt in explosion

A perimeter fence around the Kadena Ammunition Storage Area in Yomitan, Okinawa Prefecture, on June 9 (Kazufumi Kaneko) Four Self-Defense Force members were slightly injured in an explosion on June 9 while handling unexploded bombs at a storage facility on Okinawa's main island. The injuries were the first for members of the 101st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company of the Ground SDF's 15th Brigade, which deals with at least one request per day for removing unexploded ordnance left from World War II. The explosion occurred around 11:15 a.m. at a temporary depot for unexploded bombs inside the U.S. military's Kadena Ammunition Storage Area, which straddles Yomitan village, Okinawa city, Kadena town and other municipalities, a Defense Ministry official said. The four suffered minor injuries, including burns on their fingers, which were not considered life-threatening. At the time of the explosion, the unit members were scraping rust off unexploded bombs and engaged in other work at the depot, which is managed by the Okinawa prefectural government. The Kadena Ammunition Storage Area, which spans about 2,600 hectares, includes an SDF training area and munitions depot, as well as facilities used by the prefectural government, an electric power company and other parties. The 101st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, based in the prefectural capital of Naha, defuses unexploded bombs at the sites when necessary and brings them to the depot. Okinawa, Japan's southwestern island prefecture, was the site of a fierce ground battle against the United States in the closing months of the Pacific War. It is estimated that more than 1,800 tons of unexploded bombs still remain buried at the end of 2023. Okinawa accounted for about 52 percent of all unexploded bombs that were disposed of around the country in fiscal 2023. Unexploded ordnance detonations have continued to plague Okinawans. While Okinawa was under U.S. administration through 1971, 704 people were killed by explosions and other accidents. Four people, including a small child, were killed and 34 others were injured when an unexploded bomb detonated during sewerage work in Naha in 1973. Two elementary school pupils suffered burns from an explosion in the southern part of Okinawa's main island in 1975. In 2009, a construction worker was seriously injured in an accident in Itoman in the prefecture.

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