WWII bomb in Hong Kong’s Quarry Bay successfully disposed of after 9-hour effort

A “highly dangerous” wartime bomb discovered in Hong Kong’s Quarry Bay on Friday was successfully disposed of after a nine-hour effort at around noon on Saturday.

The defusing process, which started at 2am after evacuating some 6,000 residents near the Pan Hoi Street construction site where the bomb was found, took longer than expected due to the heavy rain, police said.

Hong Kong had been hit by heavy rain from Friday night till Saturday noon due to tropical depression Mitag.

“Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau successfully disposed of the bomb at 11.48am. The site is now safe, and we are arranging for people to return to their residences,” said Chief Superintendent Andy Chan Tin-chu of Eastern police district.

Senior bomb disposal officer Suryanto Chin-chiu said three steps were involved in handling the 454kg (1,000lbs) wartime bomb, which included 227kg of TNT explosives.

It first took them four hours to cut open a one-feet hole, followed by a process of incinerating the explosives.

“When we incinerated the bomb, the power was very strong. It was not an explosion but just burning,” Suryanto said. “The power was very destructive, and that proved what we said earlier about why the bomb could not be removed and must be destroyed on site.”