A World War two bomb was successfully diffused by the Hong Kong Police that was found at a construction site located at a busy commercial area in Hong Kong on February 1, 2018. More than 4000 people were forced to evacuate and event the nearby streets were closed as the bomb experts worked for hours to diffuse the 450 kb bomb.
The wartime bomb is the second one to be found within a week in Hong Kong. There has been a long history of unexploded World War Two bombs to be found in the territory. The bomb was found embedded in the ground of a construction site in the district of Wan Chai. Soon after the bomb was discovered, the police sealed parts of the district and also suspended the ferry services across the Victoria Harbour as the experts worked to diffuse he bomb.
Bomb disposal officer Alick Whirter said that the fuse mechanism of the bomb was severely damaged and even the position made it difficult for the equipment to reach it. The explosive Ordnance Disposal officers cut a large portion of the bomb to make a hole through the shell and burned the explosive material inside at 8:00 local time on February 1, 2018. The gun powder was burned up and was then lifted off from the site with the help of a crane.
The operation lasted for about 24 hours and all the buildings in the area were allowed to open by 11:00 local time while the roadblocks were lifted by noon time. Mc Whirter said, “Bomb disposal operations are dirty, difficult and dangerous. In this particular case, all three were true. It was extremely dangerous for the officers engaged in the disposal operation.” A same size bomb was found earlier this week at the same construction site and were confirmed to be made in US, AN-M65 explosives.
Photo Credits: straits time
