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 authorities stated 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 revealed on the island local representatives stated One of the harshest battles of World War II was fought on Okinawa Prefectural bureaucrats commented the injuries were not life-threatening but no other details were directly known The U S Air Force announced in a announcement that the explosion occurred at the facility managed by the Okinawa prefectural leadership at Kadena Air Base s munitions storage area It explained no U S servicemembers were involved in the case The Self Defense Force s joint staff commented 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 released The SDF declared 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 countless of them dropped by the U S military remain buried around Japan and are sometimes dug up at construction sites and elsewhere A great number of of them are still identified 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