Hong Kong MTR didn’t use metal detectors before subway digging works, despite knowing area was once a war zone
The rail operator’s shock admission came after workers discovered two 450kg American-made bombs from the second world war during construction for the Sha Tin-Central rail link
Hong Kong lawmakers on Friday accused the MTR Corporation of endangering public safety after the railway operator admitted it did not use metal detectors before digging at a site in Wan Chai, even though it knew there was a risk from unexploded wartime bombs.
Instead, it relied on visual inspections by workers in the area at the junction of Convention Avenue and Tonnochy Road, where two 450kg (1,000lbs) American-made devices buried 10 metres apart from each other were found this week. The discoveries triggered major evacuations and risky bomb disposal operations.
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MTR Corp projects director Dr Philco Wong told members of the Legislative Council’s subcommittee on railway matters that it was likely more bombs would be discovered. He said metal detectors were not used previously because it was felt they would not be useful as the site was filled with metallic material from reclamations, but they would be used from now on.
Subcommittee chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun, a railway expert, said he was shocked and other lawmakers agreed.
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Wong said that back in 2012 during the planning stage for the 17km cross-harbour link, bomb experts told them that there was a risk of unexploded munitions.
American forces had bombarded Japanese shipping and docking facilities on the northern coastline of Hong Kong Island when they occupied the city from January 1942 to August 1945. The area where construction is taking place was reclaimed from the sea after the second world war.