By P. Chandra Sagaran

Members of the bomb disposal unit preparing to detonate the bomb.

A close-up of the bomb shell.

Residents getting a closer look at the bomb fragments near Sungai Pinji after the detonation.

IPOH, MALAYSIA: The anxious one-week wait by 4,000 residents in Tambun ended yesterday when a live 454kg World War 2 bomb was detonated on the banks of Sungai Pinji, the spot where it was found.

Residents and curious onlookers were kept a good 500 metres away from the site when the bomb was detonated.

The residents from Taman Tambun, Taman Tambun Jaya, Kampung Baru Tambun and Kampung Malay Reserve started to vacate their quarters from as early as 7am.

They were ferried to waiting areas at the Tambun mosque and the Royal Malay Regiment army base in Jalan Tambun.

The roads leading to the site were blocked.

Ipoh city police chief ACP Azisman Alias, who was coordinating operations, said the bomb disposal unit got started at 8.30am.

Assisting the unit were about 200 men from the Fire and Rescue Department, Public Works Department, Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Ipoh City Council, Kinta district office, the army, and Mineral and Geoscience Department.

Sandbags were placed around the bomb before detonation.

The 20 members of the bomb disposal unit, headed by ASP Ong Fah Lim, detonated the bomb at 10.03am.

But the bomb was not completely destroyed and the bomb disposal unit began work on it again. It was detonated for the second time at 10.50am.

The bomb was found by an angler on June 14 at 5.30pm.

It could not be moved as it was risky and had be to detonated on the spot.

Azisman said the British- made bomb could have been dropped during the Japanese Occupation to blow up the bridge over the river, which linked Tambun town and the city.

The bomb, which could have been manufactured in 1945, had a killing zone of 300 metres.

"The detonation went on smoothly and the explosion did not cause any untoward incidents, injuries or damages," Azisman said.

"I thank the public for their cooperation."

Azisman said that the bomb fragments would be kept at the Tambun police station as souvenirs.

Factory worker Tipah Mat Kassim, 48, whose flat is about 300 metres away from the site, said she was happy that the bomb had been detonated as her family had been living in fear.

"I came to know about the bomb last Saturday when I heard Tambun residents talking about it," said Tipah.

"My children had a look at the bomb in the river but I dared not go near."