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Hong Kong Police Defuse 2 Homemade Bombs on College Campus


FILE - Police guard in front of a bus stop in Hong Kong, Dec. 9, 2019.
FILE - Police guard in front of a bus stop in Hong Kong, Dec. 9, 2019.

Hong Kong police say they defused two large homemade bombs packed with nails on a college campus.

Police say bomb disposal officers rushed to Wah Yan College in Wanchai district Tuesday after a janitor noticed the devices.

Monday evening's discovery is the latest cache of weaponry found during six months of anti-government protests that have rocked the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

Alick McWhirter, senior bomb disposal officer told a news conference, "In addition to the large quantities of explosives, there was also fragmentation, shrapnel, in the form of nails, which had been added to both of the devices. Both of these devices have only one function, to kill and to maim people."

The bombs were radio-controlled, to be triggered with mobile phones. Authorities did not speculate publicly who put the bombs together and why.

In July, police announced the seizure of about two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of TATP, or tri-acetone tri-peroxide, which has been used in militant attacks worldwide.

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