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 executives 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 exposed on the island local agents declared One of the harshest battles of World War II was fought on Okinawa Prefectural administrators reported the injuries were not life-threatening but no other details were without delay known The U S Air Force stated in a message that the explosion occurred at the facility managed by the Okinawa prefectural regime at Kadena Air Base s munitions storage area It reported no U S servicemembers were involved in the occurrence The Self Defense Force s joint staff declared 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 communicated The SDF stated they are trying to confirm what caused the accident Monday s accident was concluded to be the first ever since the launch of the Japanese army s unexploded ordnance disposal unit Hundreds of tons of unexploded wartime bombs a large number of of them dropped by the U S military remain buried around Japan and are sometimes dug up at construction sites and elsewhere Several of them are still unveiled on Okinawa where about tons of unexploded U S bombs are assumed 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