Blast from unexploded ordnance halts flights at Japanese regional airport

Miyazaki Airport, located near sites where unexploded ordnance leftover from World War II has been discovered in the past, canceled all flights on Wednesday after a minor explosion created a hole near a taxiway.

The transport ministry’s office at Miyazaki Airport confirmed that the explosion was caused by unexploded ordnance, which was later removed by the Self-Defense Forces. There were no reports of injuries from the incident.

The blast appeared to have happened at least 100 meters away from the terminal building, according to footage broadcast by Japanese media outlets.

A local fire department “received a call from the airport at 7:59 a.m. saying that there was an incident involving smoke,” its spokesperson said.

Authorities said they found a hole about 7 meters long, 4 meters wide and a meter deep on asphalt pavement near a taxiway.

The ordnance was a U.S.-made bomb weighing around 227 kilograms, and the reason why it exploded is unknown, they said.

The airport’s runway was closed the entire day, with a total of 87 flights arriving or departing the airport canceled as of 2 p.m.

Miyazaki airport originated in 1943 as an Imperial Japanese Navy base, and was used to send dozens of kamikaze aircraft on suicide missions.

Unexploded ordnance thought to have been dropped by the United States during the war was found at a nearby construction site in 2009, and at two other spots beneath the runway in 2011, the Mainichi Shimbun daily reported.