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WWII Bomb Detonated Near Hong Kong University Campus (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

© AFP 2023 / PHILIPPE LOPEZ Firemen are seen near the site where a World War II-era bomb weighing almost a tonne was discovered in Hong Kong (file)
Firemen are seen near the site where a World War II-era bomb weighing almost a tonne was discovered in Hong Kong  (file) - Sputnik International
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An unexploded World War II bomb was discovered in Hong Kong at a construction site near a university campus and staff quarters.

A 220kg and 1.2-meter-long US wartime bomb was unearthed at around 10 am local time on Monday by construction workers on Pok Fu Lam Road at Mingde village near Hong Kong, local news site Apple Daily reported.

​After the workers called the police, Officers from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Division and firefighters rushed to the scene to investigate the situation.

The experts determined the bomb to be a US-made airdrop bomb model AN-64 that contained about 120 kg of TNT explosives. They believed the bomb would be defused by about 11 pm.

​​Fearing that there could be serious damage if the bomb suddenly explodes, the police moved quickly to evacuate workers at the site, and residents in the surrounding area, including 67 Hong Kong University staff and their relatives who live on the campus.

Given the potential danger of the bomb fragments flying apart, the team took about eight hours to seal off an area of 400 meters in radius, and cover the bomb with sandbags.

Then firefighters and a bomb squad first cut two holes in the bomb with high-pressure water, then incinerated the TNT inside in what was a 3-hour procedure, CCTV reported.

The bomb was successfully detonated without incident.

​A military commentator said the bomb was likely one of those dropped by US B-25 bombers during the late period of World War II when the allies sought to destroy military facilities built in Hong Kong by the Japanese army.

This is not the first time a potentially deadly old bomb has been discovered in Hong Kong.

On October 6, 2015 WW II bomb was found at a Queen Mary Hospital construction site. Around 600 people were evacuated from the hospital, but medical services were carried on. The bomb was detonated successfully.

Another wartime US bomb was discovered at the same hospital in 2000, by construction workers. That time emergency services at the hospital were shut down and 1,400 people were evacuated.

In March 2013 a 250kg wartime bomb was found by a hiker near Tai Tam Tuk Reservoir. Helicopter had to be brought in to transport it to bomb disposal base in Jardine, since it was not easy to defuse the device in the park.

The largest WW II bomb was discovered by construction workers in one of the city's busiest districts, surrounded by high-rise hotels, offices and residential blocks. After 2,260 people were evacuated, it took nine hours for the experts to dismantle the bomb.

These bombs were dropped on Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945.

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