A US bomb from World War II exploded at a Japanese airport

TOKYO (AP) — Passengers and airport workers were surprised Wednesday at Miyazaki airport in southeastern Japan by an unexploded U.S. World War II bomb that had been buried, creating a large crater on a taxiway and forcing local aviation authorities to cancel more than 80 flights.

Land and Transport Ministry officials said there were no planes nearby when the bomb exploded at Miyazaki airport in southwestern Japan.

An investigation by the Self-Defense Forces and police confirmed the blast was caused by a 500-pound (226-kilogram) U.S. bomb and that there was no further danger. Now, the investigation was moving forward into what caused the detonation.

A video recorded by a nearby aviation school captured how the explosion sent chunks of asphalt into the air.

Videos broadcast on Japanese television showed a crater on the taxiway, apparently about 7 meters (23 feet) in diameter and 1 meter (3 feet) deep.

Chief Government Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said more than 80 flights at the airport had been canceled because of the incident and he hoped to resume operations Thursday morning.

Miyazaki Airport was built in 1943 as a training airfield for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Some kamikaze pilots took off from there for suicide attack missions.

Several unexploded bombs dropped by the U.S. military during World War II have been found in the area before, according to Defense Ministry officials.

Hundreds of tons of unexploded ordnance from that conflict remain buried across Japan and are sometimes found at construction sites.

Written by Oscar El Blue

An American bomb from World War II exploded at a Japanese airport