More vintage bombs dug up at US Embassy

About 100 bombs from World War II have been unearthed at a construction site at the United States Embassy compound since Friday, according to personnel of the Manila Police District (MPD)’s Explosives and Ordnance Division.

Except for a few bombs found with their fuse still intact, the others were heavily corroded and may not explode at all, according to EOD chief Senior Inspector Oliver Navales. “However, we have already cordoned off the site to prevent unauthorized persons from digging,” Navales said. The EOD said there could be more bombs buried in the site.

The vintage bombs were accidentally unearthed when a backhoe dug into what may have been an ammunition depot during the war. US Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson said workers found the bombs Friday as they were digging the foundations for new visa and veterans’ facilities at the seaside embassy. Workers and staff were immediately evacuated as a safety precaution while the police bomb squad removed the explosives, Thompson said.

Normal embassy operations resumed yesterday, she said.

Police said the explosives posed no immediate danger. The mortar bombs and artillery shells will be taken to an aerial bombing range somewhere in Luzon for disposal, said Senior Superintendent Pablo Francisco Balagtas.

It was not immediately clear if the ordnance was American or Japanese, Balagtas said.

Manila was the scene of heavy fighting between US and Japanese forces during the liberation of the Philippines in 1945, and war-era explosives are often found in the city. — Nestor Etolle, AP