Published: 8:08pm, 20 Sep 2025Updated: 8:59pm, 20 Sep 2025
A wartime bomb unearthed in Hong Kong’s Quarry Bay was “very likely” dropped by the US military on April 2, 1945, with its explosive power “practically intact” because of the high production standards, experts revealed.
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A 1,000lb (454kg) bomb that included 227kg of TNT explosives was found on Friday at a construction site, causing 6,000 residents in the area to evacuate overnight. The explosive was successfully disposed of on Saturday afternoon after a nine-hour effort.
Professor Kwong Chi-man, a military historian at Baptist University, said that records showed US Army Air Forces dispatched 24 bomber planes to raid Taikoo Dockyard on April 2, 1945, each carrying six 454kg bombs.
“Using ArcGIS to georeference photographs taken during the mission by the 531st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) of the 380th Group, the analysis shows that this squadron’s bombs were dropped exactly over the Pan Hoi Street area, which at the time was the Taikoo Sugar Refinery,” Kwong said.
“Therefore, the bomb discovered is very likely a 1,000lb M65 bomb dropped by the 531st Squadron.”
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