Japanese Troops Safely Remove WWII Bomb in Okinawa
CISR
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(Stars and Stripes) Japanese troops successfully disarmed and removed a 551-pound World War II-era bomb from Okinawa’s capital city, Naha, on Sunday. The bomb, found on December 12 at a sewage construction site, was relocated to a storage facility and will be detonated at sea later, according to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. The operation involved evacuating 1,400 people within a 928-foot radius. The Ground Self-Defense Force’s 101st explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) Unit began at 10:45 a.m., slightly delayed due to evacuation efforts.
The team used a crane to extract the bomb from a 16-foot-deep hole, safely defusing it before concluding at 11:55 a.m. Nearly 2,000 tons of ordnance remain undiscovered in Okinawa from World War II. Between April 2023 and March 2024, 22 tons of unexploded ordnance (UXO) were disposed of. Authorities are committed to ongoing efforts to ensure public safety.
