Bombs removed from Disney site
Almost 200 bombs and artillery shells dumped offshore by the British military after World War II have been removed from the Disneyland site at Penny's Bay on Lantau Island.
Some of the 183 weapons had to be detonated on-site but none exploded without warning, senior government civil engineer Anthony Li Yuen-wing said.
Most had rusted or were without fuses and did not pose any danger.
Mr Li said the unexploded ordnance had been found in sand that was dredged from the East Lamma Channel and used in the Disneyland reclamation work.
He said that the Hong Kong government and Disney had hired a United States-based specialist to search for undetected bombs using a metal detector.
'When we find one we inform the police, and the bomb disposal unit takes it away if it is safe or if not they detonate it on-site,' Mr Li said.
Mr Li said that even if some bombs went undetected they would be so small and buried so deeply that the chance of an explosion was unlikely.
'There is no need to worry,' Mr Li said.
Authorities frequently find bombs in areas of Hong Kong that were hit by allied air raids during World War II, when the territory was occupied by the Japanese military.
However, police have acknowledged that the number of bombs found during the Disneyland dredging off Lamma Island seemed to be on the high side.
Despite the government's reassurance, many workers at the Disneyland site have voiced fears about their safety, a newspaper reported yesterday.
The Oriental Daily News published pictures of notices posted at the construction site instructing workers on how to handle suspicious-looking objects if they were detected.
But Mr Li said the notices were just a precaution.
Disney spokeswoman Irene Chan said the company would follow advice from bomb specialists to ensure the site was hazard-free.
She said removal of the bombs was not expected to delay construction of the park.
Disneyland is scheduled to open by 2006.
