A South Korean fighter jet accidentally dropped eight 500-pound bombs outside of a designated firing range north of Seoul on Thursday, injuring at least seven people, South Korean officials said.
In a statement, South Korea’s Air Force said a KF-16 fighter jet “abnormally dropped” the MK-82 bombs during a live fire exercise at 10:04 a.m. local time.
The fighter jet was participating in U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises near the inter-Korean border, said an official with South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense.
At least some of the bombs landed in a populated village, severely injuring at least four people and damaging a church and two residential buildings, according to the country’s national fire agency.
Pictures in local media showed at least two houses whose roofs were crumbling and windows shattered. A nearby church also appeared to suffer significant structural damage.
The live fire drill took place early Thursday at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, just 25 kilometers south of the border with North Korea.
According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, the exercise involved more than 160 pieces of military hardware and was set to be attended by Gen. Xavier Bronson, the top U.S. commander in Korea, and South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soon.
The drill marked the allies’ first exercise of its kind this year and was held in connection with the upcoming annual Freedom Shield exercise, Yonhap reported.
