World War II bomb explodes at Japanese airport: Footage
Photo: A World War II bomb exploded at a Japanese airport (x.com/rukigafm)
An American World War II bomb exploded at Miyazaki Airport in southern Japan on Wednesday, October 2. The incident resulted in the cancellation of over 80 flights, Associated Press reports.
Officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism reported that no aircraft were near the airport during the bomb explosion.
The investigation revealed that the blast was caused by a 227-kilogram American bomb. Authorities are currently determining the cause of its sudden detonation.
The explosion created a crater on the taxiway, measuring approximately seven meters in diameter and one meter deep.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi announced that over 80 flights were canceled at Miyazaki Airport, but operations are expected to resume by the morning of October 3.
Miyazaki Airport was constructed in 1943 as a training ground for the Imperial Japanese Navy, from which some kamikaze pilots launched their suicide missions.
According to representatives from Japan's Ministry of Defense, several unexploded bombs dropped by American forces during World War II have previously been found in the area. Hundreds of tons of unexploded ordnance from the war remain scattered across Japan, and they are sometimes unearthed at construction sites.
In February last year, an aviation bomb weighing 250 kilograms exploded in the port city of Great Yarmouth in eastern England, which had been lying on the coast since World War II.
In August 2024, hundreds of homes were evacuated in Northern Ireland after law enforcement discovered a bomb likely dating back to World War II.
