The Hong Kong Police Force evacuated thousands after a World War II bomb was found, then safely blew it up.
The bomb was discovered at a construction site, and 6,000 people fled 18 nearby buildings by 11 p.m. Friday, police said.
The bomb contained about 500 pounds worth of explosives, the police said in a subsequent post. Disposal efforts started at 2 a.m. Saturday and took 10 hours.
The police bomb squad cut open the shell and lit the material inside. A video posted on Facebook by the police shows the burning bomb underneath a tent surrounded by sandbags.
“The rapid completion of this operation was due to the full cooperation and close cooperation of various government departments to quickly evacuate citizens and maximize community safety. Police also sincerely thank nearby residents for their patient cooperation and understanding, who fully demonstrated their civic responsibility and community spirit during the evacuation process,” the city’s police said.
The police didn’t specify the origin of the bomb in their posts, but experts believe it was an American shell.
Chi Man Kwong, a professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, told the South China Morning Post that the bomb was likely a U.S. M65 shell dropped during an April 2, 1945, raid by the Army Air Forces’ 531st Bombardment Squadron.
By georeferencing photographs, “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,” Mr. Kwong told the newspaper.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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