1,300 evacuated as Hong Kong police defuse unexploded 450kg American bomb at Wan Chai building site

Hong Kong police were carrying out a major bomb disposal operation on Saturday afternoon involving the evacuation of 1,300 people after the discovery of a 450kg (1,000 lbs) wartime explosive at a Wan Chai construction site.

Senior bomb disposal officer Tony Chow Shek-kin said the ANM-65 device was a remnant from the second world war and had been dropped from the air by American bombers sometime between 1941 and 1945.

It contained about 225kg of explosives, which police expected to have defused by around midnight.

“The front detonator is damaged and would pose a danger if we were to move the bomb. So we have to dismantle it at the scene,” Chow said.

“It could cause extensive damage. If the bomb explodes the force could affect the surrounding area within 200 metres, with fragments flying as far as 2,000 metres.”