WWII Bomb Found at Hong Kong Hiking Trail

A bomb disposal squad was sent to a Hong Kong hiking trail Friday after a walker found an unexploded World War II-era device near a youth hostel, police said.

Officers evacuated 22 people from the hostel and cordoned off the area after the expatriate hiker discovered the Japanese artillery shell on Mount Davis at the western edge of the Hong Kong island, a police spokeswoman said.

"Initial investigations lead us to believe that this is a World War II-era bomb... so we will arrange for people to detonate it," she said, describing the device as "dangerous".

Television news footage showed a large dark green metal object protruding from the muddy ground amidst dense tree coverage.

Last year hundreds of people were evacuated by police when a British artillery shell was found in Hong Kong, which was the scene of fierce fighting between Japanese and British allied forces in 1941.