US Dropped the Bomb During WWII. It Exploded Wednesday

It left large crater in a taxiway at Japan's Miyazaki Airport
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 2, 2024 11:35 AM CDT
US Dropped the Bomb During WWII. It Exploded Wednesday
This photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows part of a damaged taxiway at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, after an explosion was reported.   (Kyodo News via AP)

An unexploded US bomb from World War II that had been buried at a Japanese airport exploded Wednesday, causing a large crater in a taxiway and the cancellation of more than 80 flights but no injuries, Japanese officials said. Land and Transport Ministry officials said there were no aircraft nearby when the bomb exploded at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan. Officials said an investigation by the Self-Defense Forces and police confirmed that the explosion was caused by a 500-pound US bomb and there was no further danger. They were determining what caused its sudden detonation, reports the AP.

A video recorded by a nearby aviation school showed the blast spewing pieces of asphalt into the air like a fountain. Videos broadcast on Japanese television showed a crater in the taxiway reportedly about 20 feet in diameter and 3 feet deep. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the airport hopes to resume operations on Thursday morning.

Miyazaki Airport was built in 1943 as a former Imperial Japanese Navy flight training field from which some kamikaze pilots took off on suicide attack missions. A number of unexploded bombs dropped by the US military during World War II have been unearthed in the area, Defense Ministry officials said. Hundreds of tons of unexploded bombs from the war remain buried around Japan and are sometimes dug up at construction sites.

(More World War II stories.)

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