By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2025-03-06 14:40:06 | Updated at 2025-03-06 17:34:12
2 hours ago
Shocking video captured the moment South Korean fighter jets on a training exercise accidentally dropped eight bombs on a civilian area Thursday, damaging homes and injuring at least 15 people.
One clip shows a car driving down a tree-lined street in Pocheon — before a huge explosion consumes the screen, damaging several homes and a church in the city near the heavily militarized border with North Korea.
The blast came as two KF-16 fighter jets — one a one-day drill with the US military — somehow each dropped four 500-pound MK-82 bombs just outside a firing range, South Korea’s Air Force claimed.
Fire officials said 15 people were wounded, including two seriously. Three homes, a church and a greenhouse were all damaged, though none appeared to have been directly hit, officials said.
“We are sorry for the damage caused by the abnormal drop accident, and we wish the injured a speedy recovery,” the Air Force said in a statement.
The accident reportedly unfolded after a pilot entered incorrect coordinates into the jets, a military source told Reuters. Each jet dropped four bombs, all of which detonated, the source added.
“There was a sudden loud roar of a fighter jet, then an explosion rang out. When I went to the scene, there were about four houses that were halved from the damage, people hurt,” said Oh Moung-su, a 65-year-old resident.
“Dusk and smoke rose into the sky, water gushed out of a pipe. People in a vehicle going to a construction site were injured – some of them couldn’t even get out of the car. Another was outside the car covering his eye.”
Authorities said they would suspend live-fire exercises while they investigate the incident, but said it would not affect major joint South Korean and US military exercises set to begin on Monday.
The Freedom Shield joint drills, which start Monday and will run through March 20, aim to strengthen the readiness of the alliance for threats such as North Korea, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said before the accident.
This year’s drills will reflect “lessons learned from recent armed conflicts” and North Korea’s growing partnership with Russia.
“Our planners look across the globe and identify the trends that are changing and we look at how we can incorporate that into our exercises,” Ryan Donald, a spokesperson for the United States Forces Korea said on Thursday.
About 70 combined field training sessions are scheduled for this year’s exercise.
With Post wires.
