Flights cancelled after explosion at Japanese airport

TOKYO - A regional airport in Japan that used to be a "kamikaze" base during World War II cancelled all flights on Wednesday after a minor unexplained explosion.

There were no reports of injuries from the incident at Miyazaki airport on the southern island of Kyushu early Wednesday.

The blast appeared to have happened at least 100 metres (yards) away from the terminal building, footage on Japanese media showed.

A local fire department "received a call from the airport at 7.59am (2259 GMT Tuesday) that there was an incident involving smoke", its spokesman told AFP.

He quoted airport staff as saying something "might have exploded although it's not confirmed".

An airport official, meanwhile, gave no further details, telling AFP only that part of a taxiway had caved in and that flights were cancelled until the evening.

The official, Takehiro Maeda, said police and the fire department were investigating.

Japan Airlines said the incident prompted the cancellation of 13 flights that should have carried 790 passengers.

Miyazaki airport originated in 1943 as an imperial Japanese navy base, sending dozens of "kamikaze" aircraft on suicide missions.

Other unexploded ordinance thought to have been dropped by the United States during the war was found at a nearby construction site in 2009 and 2011, the Mainichi Shimbun daily reported. - AFP