TOKYO: More than 16,000 Tokyo residents were evacuated on Sunday as experts disposed of an unexploded one-ton bomb believed to have been dropped by the US military during World War II, an official said.

The rusty bomb was defused by Japan’s Self-Defence Force personnel in Chofu, on the outskirts of Tokyo, said Shigeru Ishikawa, a Tokyo Fire Department official.

“Residents stayed at nearby public schools for evacuation,” Ishikawa said, adding that about 16,490 people had to leave their homes.

The bomb, believed to have been dropped by a B-29 bomber, was found by construction workers in March. Ishikawa said the evacuation order was lifted after two hours.—AP