Japan: WWII bomb forces mass evacuation

[Tturtle]

"TOKYO (AP) -- About 5,400 residents were evacuated in Osaka in western Japan and highways were closed as army experts disposed of a large unexploded bomb believed to have been dropped by the U.S. military during World War II, authorities said.

An explosives disposal unit from the Japanese military safely defused the rusty 1-ton bomb in the crowded residential area during a 50-minute operation Sunday, local army spokesman Shoji Matsumoto said.

Nearby highways and roads were closed, and city buses, boats and flights in and out of nearby airports were rerouted, city officials said in a statement.

The bomb -- about 6 feet (1.8 meters) long -- was found by workers at a construction site last month, Matsumoto said.

Although the war ended more than 60 years ago, unexploded bombs still turn up regularly in Japan, where U.S. forces conducted extensive air raids against major cities.

A similar bomb was found in the outskirts of Tokyo in March, forcing 16,000 residents to evacuate for a disposal operation two months later. Another one was unearthed in Osaka three years ago."

This is the whole article but heres the link if you want - Japan: WWII bomb forces mass evacuation - CNN.com

I searched and didn't see anything else about this. So who else thinks this is crazy?

[JoshAussie]

me cant believe it.. (yet to read the article) will be having a proper read soon tho.. for the moment just going off of your post.. not sure what to say, obviously im extremely happy it didnt explode.. guess thats all i can say for now.. thx for the interesting thread

[KitsuneFr]

That arrives sometimes here in France too, especially in Normandia where there was high level bombing on major cities before D-Day or in other major cities in the country where there was high german troop concentration or weapon factories (our weapon factories, especially aircraft, engines, ... were forced to work for the germans in WWII).

Habitually, there is no problem. Police make population evacuate the dangerous area and the engineers from the Army are proceeding to the bomb neutralisation. This happens about from a bit less than each a year (sometimes the bombs have fallen deep inside the ground and didn't explose, they generally find them after digging before building new buildings, tunnels, etc...)

When the authorities are well organised, they won't be any problem to get rid of these bombs. That takes generally less than a day.

[allie2590]

I read about something like that happening in this manga I read, and I thought it was crazy and couldn't true, so I was surprised to see this article. I'm really surprised that bomb didn't go off. I wonder if they lose their power over time?

[KitsuneFr]

In fact sometimes explosives used in are very stable. The bomb shell can rust, but what is inside could work after many years if there was no water or moist infiltration in it. The detonating system may be functionnal too, it is why the specialists from the engineers regiments from the army (equivalent to the EOD in the British army) are doing the neutralization duty.

[allie2590]

Originally Posted by KitsuneFr

In fact sometimes explosives used in are very stable. The bomb shell can rust, but what is inside could work after many years if there was no water or moist infiltration in it. The detonating system may be functionnal too, it is why the specialists from the engineers regiments from the army (equivalent to the EOD in the British army) are doing the neutralization duty.

Huh. I never knew that.

[KitsuneFr]

Glad to help you ^^