CEBU CITY -- About 18 vintage bombs were unearthed in the South Road Properties’ shore at dawn Monday after a construction worker accidentally excavated these with a backhoe.
The Central Command’s Explosive Ordnance Division (EOD) recommended temporarily stopping the construction of the White Sands Beach Resort, where the bombs were found.
The rusty devices were believed to be remnants dating back to World War II. They weighed up to 250 pounds.
“I was excavating the sand when I noticed a strange cylindrical metal. And then I realized it was a bomb,” said Reynaldo Campanas of Dakay Construction and Development Corp., who stumbled on the bombs at 4 a.m.
Campanas, together with the crew, inspected the bomb and were surprised to discover more like it.
Acid leak
They immediately called for assistance, afraid the devices would blow up.
“We were worried for our lives,” Campanas said.
They usually begin working in the morning, but started earlier Monday because the tide was low.
The construction crew has been working for already seven months near the Sugbu building, putting up riprap walls and stairs.
Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) chief Stanley Sabang dispatched some of his personnel to cordon off and secure the bombs placed near the construction site.
One of the bombs leaked some picric acid — an odorless, yellow chemical compound used in military explosives — into the seawater.
A representative of the military’s EOD advised the construction workers to avoid contact with the chemical.
Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office Executive Director Alvin Santillana will check the site. He said it is not surprising that vintage bombs were found in the area.
Kawit Island, a portion of the SRP, was said to be one of the forts during the Japanese Occupation. (DSM of Sun.Star Cebu)
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