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, officials said 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 found on the island, local officials said. One of the harshest battles of World War II was fought on Okinawa.
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A Japan Self-Defence Forces vehicle enters an area of ammunition store in the town of Yomitanson, Okinawa prefecture, southern Japan Monday, June 9, 2025. A yellow sign reads "Bomb Disposal." (Kyodo News via AP)
U.S. military persons gather near the site of an explosion at a storage site for unexploded ordnances at a U.S. military base in the town of Yomitanson, Okinawa prefecture, southern Japan Monday, June 9, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
U.S. military persons gather near the site of an explosion at a storage site for unexploded ordnances at a U.S. military base in the town of Yomitanson, Okinawa prefecture, southern Japan Monday, June 9, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
This photo shows a gate at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, southern Japan, on July 12, 2024. (Juntaro Yokoyama/Kyodo News via AP)
Prefectural officials said the injuries were not life-threatening, but no other details were immediately known.
The U.S. Air Force said in a statement that the explosion occurred at the facility managed by the Okinawa prefectural government at Kadena Air Base's munitions storage area. It said no U.S. servicemembers were involved in the incident.
The Self Defense Force's joint staff said 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 reported.
The SDF said they are trying to confirm what caused the accident.
Monday's accident was believed to be the first ever since the 1974 launch of the Japanese army's unexploded ordnance disposal unit.
Hundreds of tons of unexploded wartime bombs, many of them dropped by the U.S. military, remain buried around Japan and are sometimes dug up at construction sites and elsewhere. Many of them are still found on Okinawa, where about 1,856 tons of unexploded U.S. bombs are believed 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.
A Japan Self-Defence Forces vehicle enters an area of ammunition store in the town of Yomitanson, Okinawa prefecture, southern Japan Monday, June 9, 2025. A yellow sign reads "Bomb Disposal." (Kyodo News via AP)
U.S. military persons gather near the site of an explosion at a storage site for unexploded ordnances at a U.S. military base in the town of Yomitanson, Okinawa prefecture, southern Japan Monday, June 9, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
U.S. military persons gather near the site of an explosion at a storage site for unexploded ordnances at a U.S. military base in the town of Yomitanson, Okinawa prefecture, southern Japan Monday, June 9, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
This photo shows a gate at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, southern Japan, on July 12, 2024. (Juntaro Yokoyama/Kyodo News via AP)
