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Bomb disposal officers in Hong Kong started defusing on Sunday a 450kg (1,000 lbs) wartime explosive discovered at a Wan Chai construction site as roads remained closed after 1,300 people were evacuated the day before.
The bomb was discovered at a building site for the Sha Tin-Central rail link, on Harbour Road and Tonnochy Road. A construction worker made a report to police at 7.40am on Saturday.
The large cylindrical device, 140cm long and 45cm in diameter, was unearthed 15 metres down in the soil.
Officers said the ANM-65 device, containing about 225kg of explosives, was a remnant from the second world war and had been dropped from the air by American bombers sometime between 1941 and 1945.
Authorities worked overnight to secure the area. Details on why the operation had been delayed till Sunday morning are unclear.
Police bomb disposal experts spent most of Sunday morning preparing to defuse the 450kg bomb.
At about 11am, officers initiated the process of burning off the explosive material inside the device. A plume of smoke was seen coming from the work site. The operation was expected to last about two to three hours.
Roads were closed to traffic across large areas in Wan Chai, including Harbour Road and around the Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Transport Department warned motorists to stay clear of Wan Chai North.
At 11am, roads including Convention Avenue, Expo Drive, Harbour Road, Fenwick Pier Street, Fleming Road, Marsh Road and Tonnochy Road remained partially closed to traffic.
At least half a dozen cross-harbour and island bus routes have been affected and ferry services between Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai are suspended.
(SCMP)
