Dozens of hikers trekking the Twins Peak near Stanley on Sunday were evacuated after wartime grenades were unearthed nearby.
Just before 1 pm, police received reports that suspected explosives dating back to World War 2 had been found along the Wilson Trail running through Tai Tam Country Park.
Officers from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau arrived at the scene and examined the relics, which included four grenades measuring 15cm and a mortar, a weapon used to fire projectiles, with a diameter of 6cm.
Bomb specialists detonated the items in the early evening, setting off dark smoke a loud bang that could be heard as far away as in Deep Water Bay, according to comments in a Facebook group for residents on the southside.
Wartime explosives have been discovered in the southern part of Hong Kong Island before, formerly a stronghold for British troops in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
In January, police received reports of suspected explosives by a barbecue site in Tai Tam Country Park, near the Hong Kong Parkview residential estate. Officers found five bullets and a mortar, believed to have been used by Japanese soldiers during World War 2.
Four years ago, in 2017, construction workers in Pok Fu Lam unearthed a 225kg (500 pounds) bomb buried underground. Bomb disposal officers spent around eight hours doing protective work on the explosive before safely detonating it.
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