Thousands of residents were compelled to evacuate a lively neighborhood overnight as specialists meticulously worked to defuse an unexploded nearly 5-foot, 1,000-pound World War II bomb.
This U.S.-manufactured ordnance was discovered at a Quarry Bay construction site on Hong Kong’s western side on Friday night, and it represents one of several such bombs found on the island.
Andy Chan Tin-Chu, a police official, informed reporters, “We have confirmed this object to be a bomb dating back to World War II.” He further explained that due to “the exceptionally high risks associated with its disposal,” approximately 1,900 households, encompassing 6,000 individuals, were “urged to evacuate swiftly.”
A statement from Hong Kong police detailed that the 1,000-pound bomb contained 500 pounds of TNT, likely dropped by U.S. service members during the war. Bomb experts labored from approximately 2 a.m. Saturday until nearly noon to neutralize it.
Police noted that the explosive ordnance disposal team “brav[ed] the elements under the typhoon” to dismantle the bomb, successfully neutralizing the threat by 11:48 a.m.
No injuries were reported during the operation.
“Given the high risks involved in the handling of the bomb that officers from our #ExplosiveOrdnanceDisposal (#EOD) Bureau believe to still be in good condition—#HKPF devised the emergency evacuation plan upon the discovery of the bomb by workers in a construction site at No. 16-94 of fPan Hoi Street—for the sake of ensuring #PublicSafety,” the Hong Kong Police Force communicated in an alert on X.
Previously, experts defused another 1,000-pound WWII bomb discovered at a construction site in Hong Kong’s business district. That incident marked the third such bomb unearthed since January of that year.
During the war, Hong Kong was occupied by Japanese forces and was subjected to U.S. air raids.