Heavy rain exposes dummy grenade sparking bomb scare at Hong Kong army barracks
- Roads closed as ordnance disposal unit removes device
- ‘Suspicious object’ may have been used in exercise
A suspicious object that turned out to be a dummy grenade sparked a bomb scare outside barracks of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
A law enforcement source said the pineapple-shaped item could have been washed out through a drainage channel from the Gun Club Hill Barracks amid heavy rain. The PLA operates the barracks on Chatham Road South in Yau Ma Tei.
Bomb disposal officers were sent to examine the object, which was found by a cleaner outside the barracks at about 11.30am.
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A police spokesman said sections of Chatham Road South and Austin Road were closed to traffic, but no evacuation was needed.
The source said the object was found in the drainage channel near one of the barrack’s entrances on Chatham Road South.
He said an examination by bomb disposal officers showed it was a dummy grenade which did not contain any explosives.
“It is possible the dummy had been used in an exercise inside the barracks and left in the drainage channel, and heavy rain this morning washed it out of the camp,” the source said.
The Observatory had issued an amber warning at 3.45am indicating heavy rain was expected to fall generally over the city, exceeding 30 millimetres in an hour. The warning was lowered at 6.40am.
After ascertaining the object was fake, officers from the force’s explosive ordnance disposal bureau removed it from the scene.
The Transport Department said the closed lanes on Chatham Road South and Austin Road were reopened at about 1.30pm.
