Temple 'bomb' turns out to be air checker

More than 150 people were cleared from Wong Tai Sin Temple during a bomb scare yesterday before police, aided by a robot, took apart a suspicious box that turned out to be an air quality surveying device owned by a university.

Officers from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau were called to Yue Heung Shrine at 11 am after a staff member discovered a silver metal box on an embankment at the temple.

Bruce Lai Ko-yin, senior inspector of the operations wing of Kowloon East Regional Headquarters, said the box - taken apart by a bomb-defusing robot - contained wires connected to a mobile phone and a phone charger alongside circuit boards inside a white plastic box.

"We have now confirmed that the box is not an explosive device," he said.

Lai said the staff member saw wires through a hole in the box and found it suspicious and so reported it to police." He said the box measured 20 centimeters in length, 15cm in width and 10cm in height.

Lai said labels should have been stuck on the box to indicate its function.

"Since wires could be found inside the metal box, [it could be easily mistaken for an] explosive device," he added.

Lai said two similar boxes were found on the embankment of the temple's Good Wish Garden and Fortune-Telling and Oblation Arcade, but both had labels that read "Lingnan University Hong Kong" and "Measuring environmental conditions in progress." The incident is being investigated by the Wong Tai Sin regional crime unit.

A spokesperson for Lingnan said the devices were meant to investigate the impact of smoke from the temple on air quality.

A research team from the university owns the boxes.

"Members of the research team said the label on the box may have been blown away by strong winds," the spokesperson said.

"To avoid further misunderstandings and to ensure safety, we will inspect all similar devices as soon as possible."

Stephen Ma Chak-wa, chairman of the board of the temple, said he had not received previous notification from Lingnan regarding the air-quality devices.

Ma said the university should have informed the temple, which was reopened in the afternoon after the police operation.

erin.chan@singtaonewscorp.com