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 leaders noted 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 detected on the island local bureaucrats mentioned One of the harshest battles of World War II was fought on Okinawa Prefectural officers disclosed the injuries were not life-threatening but no other details were right away known The U S Air Force declared in a comment that the explosion occurred at the facility managed by the Okinawa prefectural executive at Kadena Air Base s munitions storage area It explained no U S servicemembers were involved in the episode The Self Defense Force s joint staff stated 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 stated The SDF revealed they are trying to confirm what caused the accident Monday s accident was presumed to be the first ever since the launch of the Japanese army s unexploded ordnance disposal unit Hundreds of tons of unexploded wartime bombs multiple of them dropped by the U S military remain buried around Japan and are sometimes dug up at construction sites and elsewhere A multitude of of them are still located on Okinawa where about tons of unexploded U S bombs are considered 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