Naha, the capital of Okinawa, is preparing to leave 1,400 people next month while Chinese forces disarm and eliminate a suspected American bomb from World War II.
According to Naha’s site, the 551-pound artillery was discovered at the design page of a sewage system in the state’s Shuri area last December. According to Stars and Stripes, the 101st Explosive Ordnance Disposal System of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force plans to drill 20 feet deep and 10 feet broad around the explosion’s shell before removing the weapon wire.
Representatives from the town and fire departments will be in charge of evacuating all buildings that are within a 928-foot diameter of the World War II weapon, including 80 organizations and 470 families, according to Stars and Stripes. Around 1,400 people are currently scheduled to be evacuated on September 29.
We may begin the procedures if someone is within the departure area, according to a spokeswoman with Naha’s Hazard Prevention Division.
The Japanese are currently unable to eliminate the bomb shell because it is “very unsafe because it has the wire in it and may explode,” according to the spokesperson for the Disaster Prevention Division. According to Stars and Stripes, the bomb’s elimination was postponed because of its proximity to a remote, densely populated area.
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The Disaster Prevention Division spokesperson told Stars and Stripes,” Typically, we build something like a sand mountain covered with metal plates over the shell before removing it, but we do n’t have the space to do so.”
According to Stars and Stripes, city officials ultimately made the decision to continue digging a hole around the bomb because heavy machinery could n’t fit in the area surrounding the bomb shell.
The director continued,” We have to take into account many things before we can decide whether to disturb the properties that surround the place, and we must also reconduct electromagnetic surveys after digging.”
The disarmed bomb shell will remain in a hospital in Okinawa until it can be safely detonated in the sea, according to a Self-Defense Force spokesman.
Around 2, 000 plenty of ammunition were dropped on Okinawa during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II, according to Stars and Stripes, and about 2, 000 loads are still missing.
