Evacuation ordered as bomb is unearthed by North Point ferry pier
36kg Japanese explosive destroyed by a controlled blast in North Point
Bomb disposal officers yesterday defused a 46cm armour-piercing bomb, left by the Japanese army after the second world war and discovered by workers at a construction site next to the North Point Ferry Pier.
A section of the Island Eastern Corridor expressway, which sits about 80 metres away from the site, was sealed off when the bomb was found at 1.30pm. Construction workers, residents and others were evacuated from the area, and also from the bus terminal beside the pier.
An attempt to defuse the bomb was unsuccessful, as officers had difficulty cutting through the thick casing of the 36kg bomb, said officer Raymond Suryanto Chin-chiu of the bomb disposal unit. Bomb disposal officers then proceeded with a controlled explosion at about 5pm.
Watch: Hong Kong police detonate WWII bomb in North Point
"More than 100 sandbags were used [to dampen the blast] and all were destroyed during the explosion," said Suryanto.