Blast at U.S. Air Base in Southern Japan Leaves Four Japanese Soldiers Injured
Although no other information was immediately available, prefectural officials stated that the injuries were not life-threatening.
Four Japanese soldiers were hurt in an explosion at an unexploded WWII munitions storage facility at a U.S. military post on the southern island of Okinawa, Japan, but the injuries are not life-threatening, officials stated Monday, June 9, 2025.
While working at a site owned by Okinawa prefecture to store explosive ordnance discovered on the island, which saw one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, the four troops suffered injuries to their fingers, according to local officials.
Although no more information was immediately available, prefectural officials stated that the injuries were not life-threatening.
Reports of an explosion at Kadena Air facility when a group of Japanese soldiers specialising in handling unexploded ordnance were operating at or close to the facility were being investigated by the joint staff of the Self Defence Force.
According to the SDF, they are working to determine the accident’s cause and location. Numerous unexploded wartime bombs, including hundreds of tonnes dropped by the U.S. military, are still buried throughout Japan and occasionally unearthed at building sites and other locations.
When an old American bomb from the war detonated at a southern Japanese commercial airport in October, it left a huge crater and forced the suspension of numerous flights.
