Two South Korean fighter jets accidentally raised eight bombs on an civilian region during a joint military exercise on Thursday with the US Army, injuring eight people. The officers provided this information. The Air Force said in a statement that the MK-82 bomb dropped by the KF-16 fighter jets fell outside the ‘firing range’ (area set for bombing), causing civil damage.
The Air Force said it would set up a committee to investigate the cause of the accident and find out the damage caused to the common citizens. He said that fighter aircraft were participating in one -day shelling exercises with the US Army.
An Air Force officer told local journalists that a KF-16 pilot put wrong information for the bombing site. An official of the Ministry of Defense also told reporters that there is a need for a thorough investigation to find out why the other KF-16 aircraft also dropped the bombs on the civilian sector.
The Air Force apologized for the incident and wished the injured to recover early. She said that she would give compensation to the victims and take other necessary steps. The accident occurred in the city of Pocion, which is close to the border of North Korea.
Pocion Mayor Peck Young-Hune described these bomb blasts as “terrible” during television’s press conference and urged the army to stop military exercises in the city until it takes credible steps to prevent recurrence of these types of incidents.
He said that the city of Pocion with a population of 1,40,000 people has three major ‘firing range’ for South Korean and US forces. The army later said that it has decided to postpone all military exercises to be done through shelling across South Korea.
Observers say the practice will be restored after taking steps to know the exact cause of Thursday’s accident and to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
Pochian’s Disaster Response Department said that six common citizens and two soldiers were injured and they are undergoing treatment in hospitals. The department said that the condition of four common citizens of the injured is critical and the seriously injured people were also included in Menthailand and Myanmar.