A wartime bomb found at a construction site in Quarry Bay has been defused and taken away, police said on Saturday, with the operation wrapping up shortly before noon.

The force said bomb-disposal officers worked through the night from 2am to dispose of the Second World War device discovered on Pan Hoi Street, during which they spent four hours cutting open the 1,000-pound bomb's casing due to bad weather.

The ordinance's removal process ended at around 11.48am and took less than the 12 hours initially anticipated.

"This is one of the quickest operations that we have conducted in the last 12 years," said senior bomb-disposal officer Suryanto Chin-chiu.

"Our estimation of the operation [being] within a 12-hour range is considered to be very conservative."

Suryanto added the power of the explosives was very strong when officers incinerated the explosive materiel, saying it proved what police said earlier about why the device had to be destroyed on site.

Plumes of black smoke could be seen as bomb-disposal officers worked on disabling the threat posed by a device that they said was "extremely dangerous".

The police have arranged for those affected to return to their homes, while reopening roads to traffic.

About 6,000 people were evacuated from the area on Friday evening, with 460 of them moving into temporary shelters for the night.

Chief Executive John Lee earlier told a radio programme that the force had been very efficient in responding to the situation, while Chief Secretary Eric Chan said he hoped those affected could return home as soon as possible.
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Last updated: 2025-09-20 HKT 15:22