World War 2 relic found at Clementi Ave 1 construction site
By Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 03 March 2009 1638 hrs

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SINGAPORE: There was plenty of police and military activity around Clementi Avenue 1 and Commonwealth Avenue West on Tuesday. The cause for the alarm was an unexploded World War 2 relic.

The war relic was discovered at about 6pm on Monday at a construction site near Block 411 Commonwealth Avenue West.

Experts from the Singapore Armed Forces said it was a Japanese aerial bomb dating from the Second World War.

Usually, when a war relic is discovered, it is taken to a military live firing range to be disposed of. But bomb disposal specialists decided it was actually safer to carry out the operation at the site itself this time around.

That was because the fuse had already been activated, so transporting the 50-kilogramme bomb could be risky.

To be safe, SAF personnel moved the relic to another part of the site, away from the residential block.

The plan was to cut open the relic's steel casing and gently burn away the explosives. The bomb went off as planned at about 5:30pm. Sandbags ensured that no harm came about.

Earlier in the day, police had diverted traffic away from nearby Clementi Road and construction work on the site had to be halted.

Students from neighbouring NUS High School of Mathematics and Science were also asked to leave their campus as it was used as an operations base by the police.

Experts said war relics are a relatively common find in Singapore, but this was one of the rare occasions where a public disposal was necessary. The last occasion was in 2004. - CNA/vm