2 South Korean fighter jets accidentally drop 8 bombs on civilian area during training, officials say
Seoul, South Korea During Thursday’s training, two South Korean fighters accidentally dropped eight bombs in civilian areas, injuring at least eight people, officials said. A report sets this number to 15.
The Air Force said in a statement that the 500-pound MK-82 bomb released by the KF-16 fighter jets fell out of the range of shooting and caused civilian losses.
The Air Force said it will establish a committee to investigate the cause of the accident and to examine the scale of civilian damage. It said the fighter jets are participating in joint live exercises with the Army.
Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
France-Presse reported that the incident occurred at 10 a.m. local time.
An unidentified air force official told local journalists that a KF-16 pilot had mismatched the bombing scene. An unidentified Defense Ministry official also told reporters that more investigations are needed to find out why the second KF-16 also dropped bombs in the civilian area.
The content of the official briefing is shared with foreign media.
The Air Force apologized and expressed hope to recover quickly from injured people. It said it would actively provide compensation and take other necessary steps.
The accident occurred in Pocheon, a city close to the armed border North Korea.
Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
In a briefing released on TV, Pocheon Mayor Paek Young-Hyun called the bombing “terrible” and urged the army to stop drills in the city until it developed reliable steps to prevent recurrence. He said Pocheon is a city of 140,000 people, providing three main ranges of shooting for South Korean and U.S. troops.
The military said it had decided to suspend live exercises in Pocheon, but Reuters quoted an official as saying that the main joint South Korea U.S. military exercises to begin on Monday would not be affected.
Peck described Thursday’s training as a joint exercise with the U.S. military. But South Korea’s Ministry of Defense was unable to confirm this immediately.
Pocheon’s Disaster Response Center said six civilians and two soldiers were injured and were treated in the hospital. The center said four injured people – all civilians – were in serious condition. The two seriously injured were foreigners – one from Thailand and the other from Myanmar.
Reuters reported that the local fire department said in a statement that 15 people were injured and the two took it seriously.
According to the Pocheon Center, three houses were partially damaged along with the Catholic Church and a greenhouse, but did not appear to be directly hit by 2 bombs.
Reuters noted that residents in the area have expressed alerts over the years about potential dangers at nearby training grounds.
