American bomb from WWII explodes at Japanese airport, leaving crater on taxiway

TOKYO (AP) — An unexploded United States bomb from World War II that had been buried at a Japanese airport exploded Wednesday, causing a large crater in a taxiway and the cancellation of more than 80 flights, Japanese officials said.

No one was hurt, and there were no aircraft nearby when the bomb exploded at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan, Land and Transport Ministry officials said.

An investigation by the Self-Defense Forces and police confirmed the explosion was caused by a 500-pound US bomb and there was no further danger. Officials were determining what caused its sudden detonation.

A video recorded by a nearby aviation school showed the blast spewing pieces of asphalt into the air like a fountain. Videos broadcast on Japanese television showed a crater in the taxiway reportedly about seven meters (yards) in diameter and 1 meter (3 feet) deep.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said more than 80 flights had been cancelled at the airport as of midafternoon Wednesday.

The airport said the taxiway damage was repaired overnight and flights resumed Thursday morning.

Miyazaki Airport was built in 1943 as a former Imperial Japanese Navy flight training field from which some pilots took off on suicide attack missions.

A number of unexploded bombs dropped by the US military during World War II have been unearthed in the area, Defense Ministry officials said.

Hundreds of tons of unexploded bombs from the war remain buried around Japan and are sometimes dug up at construction sites.

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