How Hong Kong’s bomb disposal officers handle deadly risks of job

Senior Superintendent Raymond Suryanto Chin-chiu has been disposing of explosives in Hong Kong for 18 years, having cleared more than 1,000, from unexploded wartime bombs to smuggled fireworks. Yet he can never be 100 per cent sure of completing each task without a fatal detonation.

A bomb can explode any time when trained officers use fire to incinerate the explosives inside, which is a risk that cannot be calculated despite meticulous planning, and tried and true methods.

“I can only sit tight and pray for two things: that the explosion will happen later rather than now; and that it does not explode at all,” Suryanto said.

That was on his mind as he watched a dazzling 2.75-metre (nine-foot) column of white flames shooting up from a 30cm (12-inch) opening in a 1,000lb (454kg) wartime bomb found in Quarry Bay last month, with drums of water bubbling around the burning pile of TNT explosives.

The 48-year-old Indonesian-Chinese officer, who leads the police force’s explosive ordnance disposal bureau, said disposing of bombs was a unique line of work that required a mix of perseverance, precision, coolheadedness and an indomitable passion for the craft.

During the 23-hour operation to dispose of the US military bomb dropped during World War II, Suryanto said his officers spent the first 13 hours evacuating residents and workers in the area, as well as assessing whether the nearby MTR service should be suspended as a safety measure.