Pocheon: A quiet rural village in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, was instantly turned into a scene of chaos Thursday morning, when two Air Force fighter jets accidentally dropped eight bombs on it during a live-fire drill. The scene of the accident, which occurred in Pocheon's Nogok district, about 40 kilometers northeast of Seoul, at 10:05 a.m., was reminiscent of a battlefield. The impact of the explosion caused the tile roofs of houses to collapse and trees to be torn to shreds.
According to Yonhap News Agency, three houses, a church, and a greenhouse were destroyed. The village was strewn with bricks and pieces of wood, and traces of the explosion were everywhere. Witnesses could hardly hide their shock as they recalled the moment of the bombing.
"I was watching TV inside my house when suddenly I heard a noise like thunder, and the whole house shook. When I went outside, the surrounding area was in shambles," said a 73-year-old village resident, surnamed Park. Another villager, surnamed Yoon, 85, said his house shook and the electricity went out after he heard the sound of a bomber passing overhead and then a loud explosion.
The shock was also felt at a senior daycare center located about 1 kilometer away from the village. "Suddenly the building shook with a sound like an explosion. The window shattered, and one teacher was injured and taken to a hospital," said the head of the daycare center, whose family name is Yoo.
The military is currently investigating the scene of the explosion to determine whether all of the eight bombs were fully detonated.