An explosion at a storage site for unexploded wartime bombs at a US military base on Japan's southern island of Okinawa injured four Japanese soldiers.
On Monday, June 9, officials shared an official statement, noting that the injuries are not life-threatening.
Injuries were inflicted on soldiers' fingers as they were working at a facility that belongs to Okinawa prefecture to store unexpected wartime ordnance found on the island.
According to local officials, the prefecture witnessed the harshest battles of World War II.
The Self Defence Force's joint staff said they were looking into reports of an explosion at Kadena Air Base.
Sharing few details about the incident, the SDF further added that the explosion occurred when a team of Japanese soldiers that specialised in handling unexploded ordnance was working near or at the base.
The SDF is trying to confirm the cause of the accident and the exact coordinates of where it occurred.
Japan and wartime bombs
Hundreds of tonnes of unexploded wartime bombs – many of them dropped by the US military – remain buried around Japan and are sometimes dug up at construction sites or wherever work is being done.
In October, an unexploded wartime US bomb detonated at a commercial airport in southern Japan, causing a large cavity and suspending dozens of flights.
