Unexploded World War II bomb weighing over 200 kg found in Melaka plantation

MALAYSIA: A suspected bomb has been found in Melaka, Malaysia, after a land clearing worker stumbled upon it while working at an oil palm plantation in Felda Bukit Senggeh on Monday afternoon (Jul 14).

The discovery was made around 1:47 p.m., according to Malaysian daily The Star, and the police dispatched a bomb disposal team from the police headquarters to inspect the object.

Following an initial investigation, police confirmed that the item was an old unexploded bomb (UXB), estimated to weigh more than 200 kilograms. The device, thought to be a 500-pound aerial bomb, had likely remained buried for decades.

“After inspection, the bomb was confirmed to be an old unexploded ordnance from World War II, weighing nearly 500 pounds (about 226 kilograms),” local police said in a statement.

Authorities have since secured the area, and the bomb was neutralised through a controlled explosion today (Jul 15), in line with standard operating procedures.

Officers from the Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) carried out the controlled explosion at about 1 p.m., using a low-order disposal approach known as the Vulcan Shape Charge technique that involves firing a specialised charge designed to pierce and disable the explosive safely without triggering a full detonation.

Authorities said no injuries were reported during the operation, and the area was declared secure after the disposal.

Unexploded ordnance and UXBs are explosive weapons that did not explode when they were deployed and remain at risk for detonation. UXBs from past wars can remain volatile for decades and may still pose a serious risk of detonation if disturbed.