Bomb disposal officers safely detonated a suspected wartime mortar round found at a Hong Kong construction site in Kwu Tung North on Tuesday morning, with no evacuations required.
Workers at a construction site in Kwu Tung North, Hong Kong, discovered a suspicious object at 9.32am on Tuesday. A source familiar with the matter confirmed to the South China Morning Post that it was an unexploded wartime mortar round, measuring 15cm long and 10cm wide. “Since the mortar round was inside the construction site, officers on site confirmed that the surrounding area was safe, with no need for an evacuation,” the source said. Police and Fire Services Department officers arrived to cordon off a 50-metre (164 feet) radius around the site. Officers from the force’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau decided to detonate it at 11.37am and began the task ten minutes later. The bureau said it did not deploy robots in the operation. The detonation was completed safely with no reported injuries or damage. Kwu Tung North is in Hong Kong's North District, near Lok Ma Chau. Such wartime unexploded ordnance occasionally surfaces in the city.
