A church and several houses suffered damage after two South Korean combat planes accidentally fell eight bombs in a civil district during a military exercise of living fire, local media reported.
The explosion also left at least fifteen people injured, two of them seriously.
According to the BBC, the incident occurred around 10:04 local time (01:04 GMT) in Pocheon, a city near the border with North Korea, and involved KF-16 aircraft of the KF-16 Air Force.
The South Korean Air Force declared that the pumps were removed due to an error in the entrance of coordinates. “Our KF-16 (Jet Fighter) threw abnormally eight MK-82 bomb shells. He landed outside the shooting field, ”said the Air Force in a statement to the BBC.
While the pilot of a plane erroneously entered the wrong coordinates, researchers are still determining why the second plane released their bombs.
A local resident described the impact, saying that he had been watching television when the explosion, which sounded like a thunder, “shook his home. The director of a Center for Care of nearby people reported that the explosion broke the windows, causing injuries to a teacher. While no major residents were damaged, “they were so scared that we send them all home,” said the director.
Among the injured, two people suffered fractures in their neck and shoulders. A 60 -year -old driver had the Yonhap news agency: “I was driving when I heard a” blow. “When I woke up, I was in an ambulance.
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Pocheon's authorities initially evacuated residents, while a bomb elimination team sought unleashed ammunition, but then confirmed that they were not found undetermined bombs.
The South Korean Air Force apologized to the incident and promised to compensate those affected. All living fire exercises have been suspended awaiting investigation.
The South Korean Ministry of Defense confirmed that the training exercise was part of a joint simulation with US forces. The incident advances to the combined exercises planned between South Korea and the United States, scheduled from March 10 to 20, the first since the return of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to the White House. The exercises take place amid the growing concerns about the strengthening ties of North Korea with Russia.
Military accidents during the exercises are rare but not without precedents. In 2022, a joint exercise of South Korea-US resulted in a malfunction missiles and colliding in a military golf course. While the eyelet did not explode, the incident caused a generalized panic among local residents.
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