Hong Kong, Sep 20: The Hong Kong Police Force on Saturday morning defused the unexploded World War II bomb discovered at a construction site in the Eastern District, according to a police briefing.

The Police said that the site and its surroundings are now safe enough for evacuated residents to return, and all blocked roads had been reopened.

Despite a rain delay, the Police managed to cut a hole in the shell and burn the 500 pounds of TNT explosives inside, a high-stakes operation given the power of the bomb, said Suryanto Chin-chiu, senior bomb disposal officer of the Police's explosive ordnance disposal bureau.

To dispose of the aerial bomb, which is 1.5 metre long and weighs about 1,000 pounds, the Police had evacuated around 6,000 people in surrounding buildings by 11 pm on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported. Some of them spent the night at community centers with assistance from care teams and District Council members.

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Meanwhile, it has been revealed that an explosion in the town of Tsotyli, northern Greece, which left two men injured on Friday, was caused by a World War II shell, Greek state broadcaster ERT reported.

The blast occurred around 11:30 am local time at a yard for earthmoving machinery, where a 54-year-old man sustained multiple traumatic injuries and a 45-year-old man suffered fractures.

The 54-year-old victim, who was in critical condition with severe burns and partial amputations to his knee and elbow, was transferred to Hippocrates Hospital in Thessaloniki. The second man underwent orthopedic surgery at Mamatseio Hospital in Kozani and will remain there for observation.

Army bomb disposal experts examined the site following the explosion and confirmed the presence of ammunition fragments, indicating the device was a wartime shell, ERT said.

Authorities have cordoned off the area while investigations continue.

(IANS/NS)

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