Last Seen: Oct 16, 2023 @ 11:37pm 23OctUTCAn aerial bomb from World War II that was found at a construction site in the suburbs of Singapore was meticulously destroyed by experts around the end of this month. According to a police statement, the old bomb that was found in Singapore weighed 100 kilograms (220 pounds). When it was discovered on September 20, the military chose not to relocate it. A team of bomb disposal experts will instead destroy it on-site, according to the authorities, forcing some 4,000 people to flee. Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s foreign minister, said on Facebook that a local community center would open early to provide refuge while a nearby school will operate remotely.
Police early on September 26 set up a 200 meter (656 foot) perimeter around the unexploded explosive. They also erected sandbags and concrete blocks to limit damage, according to Gabrielle Chan, Fatimah Mujeres, Sarah Koh, and Samuel Devaraj of the Straits Times. The military had just set off the first of two bombs when there was a huge explosion heard nearby. Around 1:45 pm, the bomb was properly disposed of by the professionals. Everyone quickly returned home after that. The explosions did cause some minor damage to neighboring buildings, such as cracked ceilings and broken light fittings, despite the safety measures put in place.
“Deepest appreciation for the successful disposal of the World War II bomb relic and, of course, for our residents for being calm and composed in dealing with this situation,” Balakrishnan wrote on Facebook after the explosion. “The measured, cooperative response was so quintessentially Singapore!” he continued. Historians speculate that the bomb may have been created during the Battle of Bukit Timah in early 1942. Over the course of three months, more than 6,000 aircraft bombs were dropped on Singapore, a British colony at the time, according to Mike Yeo, the Asia reporter for Defense News.
In February of the same year, the Japanese took control of Singapore. Yeo claims that similar explosive devices had been discovered in the past during construction projects. It’s likely that Singapore will find more unexploded bombs in the future. When dropped from great heights, heavy bombs may penetrate deep into the ground before being found decades later. The freshly discovered object had about 47 kilograms (104 pounds) of explosives. According to John Kwok, a war historian, a 250 kilogram (551 pound) bomb accidentally detonated in a farm field in Limburg, Germany, in June 2019, leaving a crater that was 10 meters (33 feet) wide and 4 meters (13 feet) deep. This is just one example of the damage a World War II-era bomb can inflict.
“The bomb in Singapore is much smaller, but it could still make a crater at the scene, and the shockwave can cause windows to shatter and doors to break, sending shrapnel and broken glass like flying projectiles that can hurt people.”Recently, Singapore has seen the discovery of further old explosives. A construction worker in Geylang found one in April 2021, which caused evacuations.
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