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WWII-era bomb prompts evacuation of Russian consulate in Hong Kong

This is the third bomb unearthed in the same district since the start of the year

HONG KONG /XIANGGANG/, May 11. /TASS/. Hong Kong police cordoned off several streets in the downtown Wanchai district and ordered evacuation from a number of buildings, including the Russian Consulate General, on Friday after construction workers came across a WWII-era bomb, local RTHK TV and radio broadcaster reported.

The bomb was found at a construction site for a rail link.

Evacuation was ordered for the construction site and people from nearby residential buildings, hotels and offices, including the Sun Hung Kai skyscraper housing the Russian Consulate General in Hong Kong.

"Due to a wartime bomb found at the construction site at the Wan Chai area, Russian Consulate General in Hong Kong will suspend its work on 11 May 2018 until further notice," the Russian consulate said in a statement.

This is the third bomb unearthed in the same district since the start of the year. Previously, two similar unexploded ordnances were successfully defused. The US-made bombs were dropped during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, which began in December 1941 and lasted until 1945.

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