Early today according to local and defense officials, an explosion at an explosive ordnance storage site inside a US military installation on Okinawa on Monday injured four Japanese servicemen, as reported by AP. The wounds are not thought to be life-threatening.
Within the munitions storage area of Kadena Air Base, the incident took place at a facility run by the Okinawa prefectural government. There were no American personnel involved, the US Air Force said.
The soldiers, who were members of Japan’s Self Defense Forces, were examining an unexploded bomb when the explosion occurred.
According to Japan’s official broadcaster NHK, the explosion happened while the equipment was being rust-removed. The reason of the explosion is still being looked into.
Wartime munitions, primarily World War II remnants, is temporarily stored at the facility. Unexploded bombs are still regularly discovered during land development and construction, and Okinawa was the scene of one of the bloodiest engagements of the war. across 1,800 tons of unexploded US bombs are thought to still be buried all across the island. Since its founding in 1974, Japan’s ordnance disposal unit has not experienced an event like the one that occurred Monday.
A US wartime bomb exploded at a southern Japanese commercial airport last October, causing a sizable crater and interfering with air travel.
