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Finding unexploded wartime bombs across Hong Kong is ‘overdue responsibility’ of government, experts say

Security Bureau does not have information on number and locations of such devices and says it is duty of police to handle issues regarding explosives

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Officers defused one of the two bombs at the Wan Chai site by cutting a hole in its shell and burning off the explosives within. Photo: Dickson Lee

Historians have urged the Hong Kong government to conduct a thorough underground study of unexploded wartime bombs across the city for public safety, arguing that this “mission possible” is an overdue responsibility.

While the exact number of dormant devices beneath the ground remains unclear, amateur historian and former Cathay Pacific pilot Ian Quinn estimated in a book that 4,000 bombs were dropped on Hong Kong by American aircraft – and about 1,000 failed to detonate.

According to police, since its establishment in 1972, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau handles 10 to 15 unexploded ordnances “in a typical year”.

Why does Hong Kong have so many buried wartime bombs?

The bureau does not have information on the number and locations of other undetonated bombs.

The call from historians came as two bombs weighing 450kg (1,000 lbs) – which were believed to be dropped by US forces during the second world war – were discovered in the last week of January. They were found at the construction site of the Sha Tin-Central MTR rail link in Wan Chai, an urban heartland with a dense population and commercial activity.
An aerial view of the Sha Tin-Central Link construction site in Wan Chai. Photo: Roy Issa
An aerial view of the Sha Tin-Central Link construction site in Wan Chai. Photo: Roy Issa

It took officers a total of 50 hours to remove the two bombs located 27 metres below ground. Up to 6,300 people were evacuated from the surrounding areas and businesses had to be suspended during the operation.

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