2nd LD Writethru: Window from U.S. military chopper falls onto school grounds in Japan's Okinawa

TOKYO, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- A window of a U.S. military transport helicopter fell from the aircraft and onto the grounds of an elementary school in Okinawa Prefecture on Wednesday, injuring one student and sparking a harsh backlash from local officials.

Prefectural authorities said they were notified by the U.S. forces in Okinawa that a window had fallen from a CH-53E transport helicopter at around 10:15 a.m. local time (0115 GMT) and an object measuring 1 meter square in diameter was found on the grounds of the Futenma Second Elementary School.

Teachers at the school in Ginowan City, Okinawa, said that around 30 children from the 4th grade were on the school grounds taking a physical education lesson at the time the metal-framed window struck the ground from the chopper.

One elementary school student was just five meters away from the object when it crashed to the ground, city assembly members who visited the site said.

The school said that one child sustained slight injuries as a result of the falling object.

"The safety of children should come first. It is unforgivable that it dropped in the middle of the playground," Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga was quoted as saying as he visited the site of the latest U.S.-linked military accident.

The Futenma Second Elementary School is located on the north side of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

The Futenma base is central to an ongoing feud between the central government of Japan and local Okinawan government officials and citizens about its planned relocation to a coastal area within Okinawa.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press briefing in Tokyo that the incident "stirs concerns among the people of the island prefecture."

Okinawa hosts the bulk of U.S. military bases in Japan, yet represents just a tiny percentage of Japan's land mass.

Anti-U.S. sentiment has been rising on the subtropical island amid rising instances of U.S. base-linked crimes, noise, pollution and military accidents.

The U.S. military said that the object that fell from the aircraft was in fact a window of a CH-53E helicopter that belongs to the Futenma base.

U.S. military officials said the helicopter returned to the base directly following the incident.

"This is a regrettable incident and we apologize for any anxiety it has caused the community," the U.S. Marine Corps said in a press release.

Local police and investigators in collaboration with the U.S. Military and the regional Defense Bureau are further investigating the detailed information related to the latest accident, authorities said Wednesday.

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera urged the U.S. military to suspend flights of the same type of helicopter until the safety of the chopper can be confirmed. Enditem