By KAZUHIDE SETOGUCHI/ Staff Writer
July 24, 2022 at 14:45 JST
A Ground Self-Defense Force crew inspects the unexploded bomb found at a construction site in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, on April 27. (Provided by Ground Self-Defense Force)
A Ground Self-Defense Force bomb disposal unit defused and removed a 1-ton live explosive from the wartime era that forced West Japan Railway Co. to suspend operations on two lines in Osaka Prefecture for three hours on July 24.
The company announced that services resumed around 3 p.m. after the GSDF declared the site safe at 1:33 p.m.
Suita Mayor Keiji Goto lifted an evacuation order issued earlier that morning for about 2,000 residents living within a radius of 300 meters of the zone, city officials said.
The bomb, which was dropped during an air raid over Suita in World War II, measured 1.8 meters in length and 60 centimeters in diameter.
It was discovered April 27 during construction work for a condominium, according to the Suita city government.
The disposal work affected JR West services on the section between Osaka and Takatsuki stations on the Kyoto Line and the one between Shin-Osaka and Hanaten stations on the Osaka-Higashi Line.
The Tokaido main line’s section between Kyoto and Osaka is known as the Kyoto Line.
The bomb had fuses attached at the nose and tailend, meaning it could still explode.
The GSDF team removed the fuse at the tailend at 12:36 p.m. and the one at the nose at 1:20 p.m., according to the Suita city government.
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