Unexploded IED found at Shenzhen border control point, after suspected bomb destroys second Hong Kong toilet in 24 hours
- Message on Telegram messaging app says Shenzhen discovery ‘only the start’ and demands border closure
- Cleaner who discovered Monday night blaze saw two people running from a public toilet in Kowloon’s George V Memorial Park
The palm-sized device at the border station, which police said contained a nitrate-based explosive, was discovered by a security guard at about 10.25am on Tuesday and drew about 20 police officers in riot gear to the scene. No injuries were reported.
A message circulating afterward on the encrypted Telegram messaging app, nearly identical to one that followed Monday morning’s bombing at the Caritas Medical Centre in Cheung Sha Wan, seemed to claim responsibility for the border incident, saying it was “only a start” and demanding the government “close the border in two days”.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, superintendent Alick McWhirter of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit said the device, which included a light bulb, cable wire and a circuit board, was designed to be detonated by mobile phone.
“The quantity [of explosive material] being such that had this device exploded, it would potentially have caused either death or serious injury,” he said.
Monday night’s attack came to light thanks to a cleaner, who called police at 10.50pm after discovering a toilet ablaze in Kowloon’s King George V Memorial Park.
