Robot cops: The Cyclops robot and the EOD team who calmed the high-pressure Quarry Bay callout

A high-pressure callout for the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau on November 22 saw MTR commuters back on the rails in no time thanks in part to one of their Cyclops robots.

The efficient little guy allowed EOD officers to inspect and neutralise a hoax bomb left on Quarry Bay Station platform two, within 25 minutes, leaving passenger disruption to about one hour in total. No explosives were found and the situation was cleared by about 4.30 pm, just in time for the peak commuting period.

Senior Bomb Disposal Officer Dominic Brittain commended the speed of the team.

"The lads were under extreme time pressure during this job as so many MTR passengers were waiting for services to resume. They kept the disruption to a minimum, clearing the package in just 25 minutes. They did a very good job - it could take two to three hours by police in some other countries," Mr Brittain said.

The compact Cyclops robots are remote-controlled and have been used by the Bureau for about eight years. Weighing about 30-kilograms, each callout vehicle features the robot and its big brother, the 300-kilogram Wheelbarrow.

"We are called out about three times a week on average, and for dealing with improvised explosive devices we use either of these two robots," Mr Brittain added.

The suspicious package was a cake box with a threatening message on the cover, found on the platform by a passenger.

MTR District and Hong Kong Island Emergency Unit officers quickly moved in to help cordon off the area and evacuate passengers, while HKI Traffic and Eastern District officers controlled vehicle and crowd congestion outside MTR stations.

Meanwhile, the Cyclops helped Bomb Disposal Officer Tony Chow Shek-kin neutralise a device found at Festival Walk shopping centre in Kowloon Tong just two days later - this time genuine. EOD were called after a man reportedly dumped a paper bag in a fashion boutique and fled. Inside was an improvised device containing almost 300 grams of explosive, and it was defused with a water jet disrupter. Kowloon West Emergency Unit evacuated about 200 people from two floors that were re-opened about an hour later once the device was cleared.

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