Japan’s welfare ministry has determined the location of a mass burial site on Palau’s Peleliu Island, where some Japanese soldiers who died during World War Two were buried.
The Imperial Japanese military and US forces fought a bloody battle on the Pacific island in 1944. More than 10,000 Japanese soldiers died, and the remains of about 2,400 of them have yet to be found.
Maps and documents that were discovered about a decade ago show the location of the site in central Peleliu, where 1,086 Japanese soldiers were buried by US troops.
At the request of the welfare ministry, a Japanese group conducted an investigation on the island to pinpoint the exact location of the site.
During the investigation, the bones of two people were discovered in May. The bones of five others were found in September during another investigation. The bodies appeared to have been buried side by side.
The welfare ministry announced on Monday that the mass burial site is located in the area where the bones were discovered.
The ministry plans to accelerate its efforts to find the remains of the Japanese soldiers buried at the site.