South Korea says number injured in fighter jet misfire rises to 29
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Investigators examining the site of an accidental fighter jet bombing over a village in Pocheon, South Korea, on March 7.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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SEOUL – The number of people injured after South Korean fighter jets accidentally dropped bombs on a civilian area on March 6 increased to 15 civilians and 14 soldiers, the country's Defence Ministry said.
The latest tally included cases of ear damage due to the blasts, as well as people suffering from migraines and anxiety, Defence Ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyu told reporters on March 7.
Two South Korean fighter jets mistakenly dropped eight air-to-surface bombs on a civilian town on March 6. An ensuing blast shook homes and buildings, video footage showed.
The area impacted in Pocheon, which is about 40km north-east of Seoul, was outside of a training area close to the border with North Korea.
Officials inspecting an area with damaged buildings after South Korea’s Air Force said that Mk82 bombs fell from a KF-16 jet outside the shooting range during joint live-fire exercises in Pocheon on March 6.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Nine of the wounded are currently hospitalised, including two who were seriously hurt, according to the spokesperson.
Eight 225kg Mk82 bombs from two jets fell outside the designated range during joint live-fire exercises due to a pilot entering incorrect coordinates, the military said.
A 2015 picture of South Korean KF-16 fighter jets dropping bombs on a mountain target during a joint live firing drill between South Korea and the US at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon.
PHOTO: AFP
The authorities have suspended live-fire exercises until it was clearly established what had gone wrong, but the military said the incident would not affect major joint South Korean and US military exercises starting on March 10.
Near the Defence Ministry in Seoul, dozens of activists and residents from the affected town held a rally on March 7 to demand a halt to military drills that threaten the lives and peace of people living in the area.
"We, Pocheon citizens, are fundamentally questioning these ongoing military exercises," said Pocheon resident Lee Myoung-won at the rally, adding it was unclear who the military drills were providing security for and what they were for. REUTERS
