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Japan to search airports for more unexploded WWII bombs

Experts say while such bombs are usually safe and damage likely to be limited, the difficulty is in finding those that are buried deeper

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Debris on the edge of the airport tarmac after an unexploded World War II US bomb blew up less than a minute after a passenger jet taxied past on October 2 at Miyazaki Airport in southern Kyushu, Japan. Photo: Miyazaki Airport Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism / AFP

Japan has ordered a thorough search for munitions that may still be buried beneath two airports in the south of the country after an unexploded bomb was found at Okinawa’s Naha airport, underscoring the danger military analysts say such wartime relics still pose.

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The weapon was discovered on Thursday, a day after another bomb, which had apparently lain dormant since being dropped from a US aircraft in the closing stages of World War II, detonated beneath a taxiway at Miyazaki airport in Kyushu.

Alarmingly, national broadcaster NHK reported that a Japan Airlines aircraft with 93 passengers and crew had passed almost directly over the 250kg (550 pounds) device about two minutes before it exploded. The blast – captured by a nearby security camera – left a crater about 1 metre (3.2 feet) deep and 7 metres long, and threw shrapnel and other debris over a 200-metre radius.

Analysts suggest the weapon may have been activated as a result of ground movement from the aircraft passing about 1 metre above.

“These bombs are usually safe, although if they are disturbed or their inner workings get wet then they can become more unstable,” said Garren Mulloy, a professor of international relations at Daito Bunka University and a specialist in military issues.

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“Over time, the detonator and primer can deteriorate, but also many were fitted with trembler switches that would detonate the device if someone tries to defuse them after they have been dropped,” he told This Week in Asia. “The bottom line is that they are less predictable if they did not go off as they were originally designed to do.”

An unexploded World War II US bomb blew up at Miyazaki airport on Wednesday, leaving a hole several metres wide on the edge of the tarmac. Photo: Miyazaki Airport Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism / AFP
An unexploded World War II US bomb blew up at Miyazaki airport on Wednesday, leaving a hole several metres wide on the edge of the tarmac. Photo: Miyazaki Airport Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism / AFP
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