Japan to search for unexploded bombs at airports after Miyazaki airport blast

Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The Japanese government will search for potentially unexploded bombs at airports throughout the country after a World War II-era bomb detonated at Miyazaki Airport earlier this week.

Japan's transportation minister Tetsuo Saito on Friday ordered an urgent search that will focus on runways, taxiways, and other locations at airports that were the target of heavy bombardment by American and British forces during the war.

"This is something that could affect the safety of flights," Saito said, according to Kyodo News . He said searches will also target airports at Fukuoka, Naha and Sendai.

The explosion of a dormant 500-pound U.S.-made bomb on the taxiway at Miyazaki Airport on Wednesday morning stunned Japanese officials but luckily did not result in any injuries since it was not being used at that time.

Officials said inspections had been done at the Miyazaki Airport during the construction of its runways and taxiways because it had once served as a base for Japan's Imperial Navy, which was a target of the Allied Forces during World War II but missed the bomb that exploded this week.

A search after the Miyazaki Airport incident by the Ground Self-Defense Force found and removed an undetonated bomb at Naha Airport on Thursday.

Japanese officials believe that more than 1,800 tons of live ordnance remain underground in the Miyazaki prefecture.