Hong Kong police defuse bombs left in school grounds
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam urged schools to stop students from joining “illegal and violent” protests after police said they have defused two homemade nail bombs discovered in the grounds of a school.
Ms Lam added that there will be “serious follow up” by the Education Secretary on teachers found to have been arrested at the protests.
Bomb disposal officers rushed to Wah Yan College in Wanchai district after a janitor noticed the devices, police said.
"The bombs were complete, fully functional and ready to be used," senior bomb disposal officer Alick McWhirter told reporters on Monday night.
Mr McWhirter said the two devices contained a total of 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of high explosives and that the remote control bombs were designed to be set off using a mobile phone.
Nails had been added to the bombs, which used a homemade explosive, to increase their destructiveness.
"Both of these devices have only one function, to kill and to maim people," Mr McWhirter said. A police source told the South China Morning Post, a local newspaper, that they believe the explosives were not intended to be used at the school but were only hidden there temporarily. Hong Kong has been engulfed by six months of sometimes violent protests – although there has been a significant reduction in clashes in the past three weeks. A massive march on Sunday passed peacefully.
Secondary school students and university students have been particularly active in the protests against a now-withdrawn extradition bill, which has evolved into calls for greater democratic reforms.
The school discovery came after an estimated 800,000 people marched on Sunday in Hong Kong against police violence.
It was the first major march since an overwhelming victory by the pro-democracy camp in the local district council elections just over a month ago.
Hours before the demonstration on Sunday, police said that they had arrested individuals and seized firearms with live ammunition. Five of the eleven arrested have since been charged in court for conspiracy to wound with intent, which is punishable by up to life imprisonment.
