Hong Kong evacuates more than 1,300 people for defusing WWII bomb

Hong Kong police on Saturday evacuated more than 1,300 people and closed off major roads to facilitate experts in defusing a 1,000 pound World War II bomb unearthed at a construction site in Wan Chai district.

Hong Kong police evacuate over 1,300 people and closed off major roads due to a 1,000-pound World War II bomb was found at a construction site in Wan Chai district on January 27, 2018. [Photo: VCG]

The bomb was discovered at a construction site for the Sha Tin to Central rail link at the junction of Harbour Road and Tonnochy Road in Wan Chai. A construction worker reported to police early in the morning. The large cylindrical device, 140 centimeters long and 45 centimeters in diameter, was unearthed 15 meters underground.

At a news conference in the afternoon, senior bomb disposal officer with the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Bureau Tony Chow said the device was a 1,000 pound general bomb and fragmentation could extend from 1,000 to 2,000 meters. The police had to defuse the bomb on site because it was unstable and can't be moved. 

"So that's why we're doing a lot of protective work to make sure the bomb is contained within the area," Chow said.

The bomb-disposal will begin on Saturday night and roads around Wan Chai North will be closed off from midnight. 

According to the police, the device was a remnant from World War II and had been dropped from the air by American bombers sometime between 1941 and 1945.