Hong Kong police today sealed off part of a busy downtown neighborhood after an unexploded bomb was found during construction work in the Asian financial center.
Around 1,200 people were evacuated after the dangerous device, weighing some 1,000 pounds, were discovered by construction workers who are building the city’s new £7,88 billion rail link.
A police spokesman said explosive ordinance disposal officers were deployed to the scene in Wan Chai, the city’s central business district.
A police officer from explosive ordinance disposal is deployed to the scene in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong today after an unexploded war-time bomb was found by builders
The picture, released by Hong Kong Police, shows an expert examining the dangerous device
The unexploded bomb was found at building site for the city’s new £7,88 billion rail link
An explosive expert said that the bomb is in a ‘dangerous condition’.
Police diverted traffic, while shops and offices in surrounding towers were shuttered for the rest of the day and ferry service at a nearby pier was halted.
It’s the second time in less than a week that a bomb has been unearthed at the site for the cross-harbor Shatin-Central commuter rail link.
The first bomb was found on Saturday. It is believed to contain 500 pounds of explosives and could cause damage 2,000 meters away.
It is thought to have been dropped by US forces in the WWII, during the Japanese occupation of the islands sometime between 1941 and 1945.
Police in Hong Kong battled for over 12 hours from Saturday to Sunday to defuse a 1,000lb US World War Two bomb.
Police officers from explosive ordinance disposal are deployed to the scene in the Wan Chai
The 1,000lb device was found under Wan Chai (pictured), the city’s central business district
The Police’s Bomb Disposal Officer Alick McWhirter, who works for the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau, told the local reporters that the suspected explosive bomb found today is the same type as the one defused on Saturday.
However compared to the last bomb, the fuse of the mechanism in the newly found bomb is said to be severely damaged.
The new bomb, found embedded in a slope, is also harder to reach.
Police sealed off part of busy Hong Kong downtown and evacuated 1,200 people in the area
Police officers evacuate journalists at the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong today
Officer McWhirter explained that ‘the position of the bomb is making it difficult for our equipment to gain an optimal access’.
The explosive experts are currently preparing for the disposal operation. It remains unsure how long it would take the police and experts to stablise or defuse the device.
Further evacuation is expected to take place.
The Home Affairs Department of Hong Kong said it would provide shelter for the affected Wanchai residents.
A policeman checks a 1,000lb World War Two bomb unearthed in Wan Chai District of Hong Kong island on Saturday. It was successfully defused at 1pm on Sunday (5am GMT)
The last explosive device was found 15 metres underground at a construction site for Hong Kong’s new £7.88billion ($11.17billion) Sha Tin Central rail link in Harbour Road