Suspected WWII bomb explodes, injuring 1

[unhappycamper]

Suspected WWII bomb explodes, injuring 1
By David Allen and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, January 16, 2009

ITOMAN, Okinawa — What’s believed to have been an undetonated World War II bomb exploded at a construction site in southern Okinawa on Wednesday, seriously injuring one person.

An Okinawa police spokesman said 25-year-old Jun Kohagura was operating an excavating machine when he was thrown by an explosion at 8:20 a.m. The device was buried about a meter underground, he said.

The explosion left a crater 15 feet wide and about five feet deep, he said.

The excavator was working on a project to install a new water main less than 30 yards from a home for seniors, the police spokesman said. The blast shattered windows and sent chunks of asphalt and concrete flying.

"We believe the bomb exploded by coming into contact with the power-shovel machine," the spokesman said.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60028