Global News

The threat of a bomb at a barracks for single sailors has shut down portions of a main road at the home of the U.S. 7th Fleet, about 37 miles south of Tokyo, Navy officials said.

The threat came in at 4:16 p.m. Wednesday for building 3333 near the Personnel Support Center, according to Yokosuka spokesman Randall Baucom. The surrounding area has been evacuated and nearby roads have been closed “out of an abundance of caution,” he said.

At about 6 p.m., as military working dogs swept the building, sailors and family members waited just outside the closed-off area, which included Clement Boulevard from Nimitz Boulevard to the base bowling alley about two blocks away.

The barracks are near one of Yokosuka’s two driving gates, forcing most outgoing rush hour traffic to use a single exit.

Seaman Cameron Hardrick, a 21-year-old culinary specialist assigned to the USS Blue Ridge, said he had just started doing laundry at a nearby barracks when his roommate told him about the evacuation order.

“Yeah, I’m going to have some wet clothes [when the order is lifted]” he said. “I’ll probably be up all night.”

Standing in a group of sailors near the closed road, Hardrick said the incident will make for a difficult morning.

“I work at [4 a.m.],” he said. “I need at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep to be effective.”

Baucom would not say how the bomb threat was received, citing an active Naval Criminal Investigative Services investigation into the report.