Two improvised explosive devices were found on a slope near the prestigious Wah Yan College on Queen’s Road East in Wan Chai on Monday by the boys school’s janitor.
HK01 reports that police received reports of the bombs at 5:30pm on Monday and arrived to find two radio-controlled explosives wrapped in cling film containing 10 kilograms’ worth of deadly components, including Aluminum Nitrate and Hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD), a highly explosive organic compound. The explosives, packed with nails, were strapped to a circuit board and a mobile phone believed to be used as a detonator.
The bombs were successfully defused by a robot and no arrests were made.
Hong Kong police say they safely disposed of 2 potentially deadly improvised explosive devices discovered near a school in the city’s Wan Chai district Monday night. The bombs included around 10 kg’s of explosives & nails & other shrapnel.The bombs were to be cell phone activated pic.twitter.com/Z1FbzXFILM
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Senior Superintendent Li Gui Hua said police are looking into the motives and identities of those behind the bombs, and Stubbs Road and Kennedy Road were closed for police investigation, Headline Daily reports.
Police are also looking into whether the bombs are linked to the handgun seized in a raid the day before, to a similar bomb found in Mong Kok in October, or to chemicals stolen from local university campuses last month, the SCMP reports.
Senior Bomb Disposal Officer Alick McWhirter said the bomb had the potential to “kill and maim people” within a 100-meter radius.
While police had yet to fully examine the bombs, preliminary inspection found the explosives are not sold commercially, suggesting they were homemade.
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