An unexploded US bomb from World War II, buried at a Japanese airport, exploded on Wednesday, creating a large crater in a taxiway and leading to the cancellation of over 80 flights, though no one was injured, according to Japanese officials.
The Land and Transport Ministry confirmed that no aircraft were near the explosion at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan. An investigation by the Self-Defense Forces and police identified the cause as a 500-pound US bomb, with no further threats detected. Authorities are still determining what triggered the sudden detonation.
Footage from a nearby aviation school captured the blast, showing chunks of asphalt flying into the air like a fountain. Videos aired on Japanese TV revealed a crater on the taxiway, approximately 7 metres (23 feet) in diameter and 1 metre (3 feet) deep. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi announced that more than 80 flights had been cancelled, with hopes of resuming airport operations by Thursday morning.
Miyazaki Airport, originally built in 1943 as an Imperial Japanese Navy flight training site, was used by some pilots for suicide attack missions during the war. Defense Ministry officials noted that several unexploded bombs from U.S. air raids during World War II have been discovered in the region. Across Japan, hundreds of tons of unexploded ordnance from the war remain buried and are occasionally uncovered during construction.