Explosion causes part of the runway to collapse at an airport in Japan (WITH VIDEO)
An airport in southern Japan canceled all flights on Wednesday after an explosion, the origin of which has not yet been determined, caused the collapse of part of the surface where planes fly.
No injuries were reported following the incident at Miyazaki airport, on the island of Kyushu, in the south of the country.
The explosion appears to have occurred at least 100 meters from the airport terminal building, according to video footage broadcast by Japanese media outlets.
Local firefighters “received a call from the airport at 7:59 a.m. [23:59 de terça-feira em Lisboa] to report an incident accompanied by smoking,” a spokesperson told news agency France-Presse (AFP).
The airport notified firefighters that something “may have exploded, but it is not confirmed,” he added.
An airport official told AFP that part of an area where planes circulated to reach the runway had collapsed and that flights had been canceled until tonight.
The official added that an investigation was underway by the police and firefighters.
Japan Airlines said the incident led to the cancellation of 13 flights that were supposed to carry 790 passengers.
According to the airport’s website, at least 31 flights were cancelled, most of them domestic flights to or from major Japanese cities such as Tokyo, Osaka or Nagoya, while only one international flight was cancelled, bound for Seoul.
Miyazaki Airport was built in 1943 as a base for the Imperial Japanese Navy, which sent dozens of planes carrying ‘kamikaze’ units on suicide missions during World War II.
