Over 1,300 of people were evacuated on Saturday in Hong Kong after an unexploded World War II-era bomb weighing 450 kilograms was found at one of the construction sites of a new metro line in the Wan Chai area, according to the South China Morning Post.
As reported by the newspaper, the unexploded device is 140 cm long and 45 cm in diameter. It was discovered by construction workers on Saturday morning at a depth of 15 meters underground.
A bomb disposal squad, policemen and firemen are currently working at the site. The perimeter is cordoned off until the bomb is defused, presumably by around midnight.
Scenes from Hong Kong: thousands are evacuated as a wartime bomb is found http://t.co/yFJPOgjtz5 PHOTOS pic.twitter.com/msFrXNQb6T
— Henry Williams (@digitalhen) 7 февраля 2014 г.
沙中線の工事中に見つかった不発弾の撤去現場写真 pic.twitter.com/L4hXPnYQtp
— 80462 (@8o462) 27 января 2018 г.
The device, which has been identified by experts as an ANM-65 projectile, was reportedly dropped on Hong Kong by an American bomber between 1941 and 1945. The bomb contains about 250 kilograms of explosives.
READ MORE: WWII-Era Bomb Found Off Nice Coast in France
The head of the disposal squad told the newspaper that one of the detonators was damaged, which makes any movement of the bomb extremely dangerous. If the bomb explodes, parts of it can scatter over a distance of up to two kilometers.
This is not the first time a WWII-era bomb has been found in Hong Kong. In January 2017, another American projectile, that one weighing 220 kilograms, was also discovered at a construction site
