The residents of Sungai Tapah will have something to talk about for quite a while after all the unexpected excitement!
The sleepy little village of Kampung Manjoi, Sungai Tapah, in the northern state of Perak faced an unexpected buzz of activity when some villagers stumbled upon a World War II-era bomb that was still ‘live’ after all this time. Locals were somewhat perplexed at how the still-active relic ended up there.
The 60-millimetre mortar bomb was uncovered on October 10, causing quite a disruption to the quiet village when people realised what it might be. Wisely not taking any chances, they contacted the police, who arrived with a bomb disposal unit to investigate. It’s standard procedure for bomb squad personnel to detonate the explosive in a controlled environment in order to minimise damage.
“We sent a bomb disposal squad there, and they managed to defuse the bomb without causing any damage to the surrounding area,” said Ipoh police chief Yahaya Hassan.
TikTok user @qasehazhar_ uploaded a video of the bomb being detonated and despite its age, could still produce a loud bang.
“Please take cover,” a police officer can be heard saying in the video. He then proceeds to count down from five, before detonating the bomb. A man can also be seen taking cover under a tree behind a police pickup truck as the countdown plays out.
The video, which has garnered at least 3.7 million views at the time of writing, attracted some rather comical reactions from viewers. Many remarked on the police officer’s voice cracking as he reached ‘one’ in his countdown.
“I wanted to watch the video seriously,” said one TikTok user. “But when he [the police officer] said ‘one’, I ended up not being serious.”
Everyone was relieved when the bomb was detonated safely and commented that the authorities carried out the task efficiently. Facebook user Syed Mohd Noor Hisam managed to document the whole exciting incident, capturing how big the operation turned out to be.
“A moment ago I was informed by locals about the discovery of a mortar bomb on the river near the Jalan Rebana bridge in Sungai Tapah village,” Noor Hisam said in his Facebook post.
“[Thankfully] the police bomb disposal unit safely defused the still-active bomb.”
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