Military officials inspect an area after military bombs were dropped in Pocheon, 42 kilometers northeast of Seoul, March 6. Yonhap
A destroyed house after an Air Force fighter jet accidently dropped boms in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, March 6 / Yonhap
Fifteen people were injured Thursday after two Air Force KF-16 fighter jets mistakenly dropped eight air-to-surface bombs outside a training range during live-fire drills, military officials and fire authorities said, in an unprecedented mistaken bombing on a civilian town.
Authorities said the bombing took place over a village in Pocheon, some 40 kilometers north of Seoul, at around 10 a.m., leaving 15 people, including two soldiers and two foreigners, with minor to serious injuries and damaging a church and seven other buildings.
Fire authorities said two civilian men have been seriously injured and taken to the hospital but noted their injuries to the face and shoulder are not life-threatening. Eight others with minor injuries have also been moved to hospitals for treatment.
Authorities expect the number of those injured to rise as more people have requested treatment.
A window of a building is shattered near the site where an Air Force fighter jet accidentally dropped eight bombs in Pocheon, about 40 kilometers north of Seoul, March 6. Yonhap
Members of some 40 households in the area have evacuated to a town hall away from the bombing site.
Military officials said the KF-16 fighter jets taking part in a live-fire exercise "abnormally" released four MK-82 bombs each outside the training range in Pocheon at 10:04 a.m.
Pilot error is suspected to have caused the accident, an initial investigation showed, with one of the pilots of the single-seat jets wrongly entering the coordinates for the strike target prior to take-off.
The Air Force said it is conducting an investigation into the accident, headed by Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Park Ki-wan, and apologized for the damage to civilians.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee Young-su vowed to make the utmost effort to compensate for the damage and bolster safety education and relevant procedures.
"We will compensate to the full extent of the mental, physical and property damage inflicted upon the residents," Lee said in a statement, saying he feels a heavy responsibility for causing concern.
A military official takes a photo of a house damaged by bombs that fell accidently from a fighter jet during a training in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, March 6. Yonhap
It marked the first accidental bombing by South Korean fighter jets that resulted in casualties.
In 2004, an Air Force F-5B mistakenly released a practice bomb over Boryeong, 138 kilometers south of Seoul, but no one was injured from the incident.
Earlier in the day, South Korea and the United States held combined live-fire drills near the inter-Korean border, in a show of firepower against North Korean military threats ahead of their annual springtime Freedom Shield exercise this month.
The exercise took place at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, just 25 kilometers south of the border, mobilizing more than 160 pieces of military hardware, including K2 tanks, K55A1 self-propelled howitzers, Apache attack helicopters and F-35A stealth jets, according to the Army.
A defense ministry official said the military will suspend all live-fire drills until the exact cause of the accident is determined.
Freedom Shield will take place as planned, but authorities were in talks for possible changes to on-field training, a military official said.
Military officials, fire authorities and officials from the local government plan to conduct a safety inspection of the accident site early Friday.
The city government of Pocheon has activated a disaster control headquarters to cope with the aftermath of the accident. (Yonhap)