Workers find WWII-era bombs

CEBU CITY—Workers building a resort on a reclaimed area here unearthed at least 30 World War II vintage bombs that police said were still live.

Chief Insp. Gualberto Gabales, head of the Mambaling police precinct, said 18 bombs were first found last Monday by workers digging to prepare for the construction of a riprap wall for a beach resort project in an area once known as Kawit Island and now part of the city-owned South Road Properties.

The workers sought police help and members of the city Special Weapons and Tactics team and the Mambaling precinct rushed to the area.

Members of the military’s ordinance division also arrived and retrieved the bombs.

Gabales said police at first thought there were only 18 bombs but the site yielded 12 more. More bombs are believed buried in the site but have yet to be unearthed.

Gabales said some of the bombs, weighing an average of 10 kilograms each, have been eaten by rust. Many others are still live, he said.

Officials of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources also went to the site to check reports that the bombs have leaked picric acid into the sea.

Picric acid is a toxic ingredient in explosives and could cause serious illness or death if swallowed, inhaled or rubbed onto skin.

Gabales quoted some of the workers as saying they saw dead fish in the area prior to the discovery of the bombs.