Explosion at a US air base in southern Japan injures 4 Japanese soldiers

TOKYO AP An explosion at a storage site for unexploded ordnance at a U S military base on Japan s southern island of Okinawa injured four Japanese soldiers though the injuries are not life-threatening representatives disclosed Monday The four soldiers sustained finger injuries while working at a facility that belongs to Okinawa prefecture and temporarily stores unexploded ordnance mostly from wartime and exposed on the island local representatives disclosed One of the harshest battles of World War II was fought on Okinawa Prefectural leaders announced the injuries were not life-threatening but no other details were right away known The U S Air Force announced in a declaration that the explosion occurred at the facility managed by the Okinawa prefectural executive at Kadena Air Base s munitions storage area It mentioned no U S servicemembers were involved in the circumstance The Self Defense Force s joint staff explained one of the devices suddenly exploded when the soldiers were inspecting it at the facility The blast occurred when the soldiers were trying to remove rust NHK television published The SDF mentioned they are trying to confirm what caused the accident Monday s accident was considered to be the first ever since the launch of the Japanese army s unexploded ordnance disposal unit Hundreds of tons of unexploded wartime bombs several of them dropped by the U S military remain buried around Japan and are sometimes dug up at construction sites and elsewhere Countless of them are still identified on Okinawa where about tons of unexploded U S bombs are presumed to remain 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 Source