War bomb explodes at Japanese airport

An unexploded American World War II bomb buried at a Japanese airport has exploded, causing a large crater in a taxiway and the cancellation of more than 80 flights.

No one was injured in the incident at Miyazaki airport in southwest Japan, officials said.

Ministry of Land and Transportation officials said there were no planes nearby when the bomb exploded.

Authorities said an investigation by the Self-Defense Forces and police confirmed that the explosion was caused by a 500-pound U.S. bomb and that there was no further danger. They were trying to determine the cause of its sudden detonation.

Video recorded by a nearby aviation school showed the explosion spewing chunks of tarmac into the air like a fountain.

Videos broadcast on Japanese television showed a crater in the traffic lane, about 21 feet in diameter and 3 feet deep.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said more than 80 flights had been canceled at the airport, which hopes to resume operations Thursday morning.

Miyazaki Airport was built in 1943 as a former Imperial Japanese Navy pilot training ground, from which some kamikaze pilots took off on suicide bombing missions.

A number of unexploded bombs dropped by the U.S. military during World War II have been discovered in the area, Defense Department officials said.

Hundreds of tons of unexploded bombs from the war remain buried across Japan and are sometimes unearthed at construction sites.