Unexploded Bomb Found in Vietnam Central Province

An unexploded bomb was discovered on Oct 22 in an area in Vietnam’s central province of Quang Tri which borders with Laos. Local residents found the bomb near the edge of Se Bang Hieng River in Huong Lap commune, Huong Hoa district, after a downpour caused land erosion. They informed the province-based mobile demining team of Peace Trees Vietnam, a humanitarian organization working for the safe clearance of unexploded bombs and mines in the province. The team later safely moved the bomb to another location where it would be destroyed by an explosion. The bomb type is said to be MK 82-500LB. It is 2.17m long, weighs 227kg and has a diameter of 30cm. It is believed to have been dropped by US forces during Vietnam’s resistance war against the Americans. At that time, Se Bang Hieng was an important location lying on the 17th parallel -- the military demarcation line established by the Geneva Accord in 1954, which temporarily divided North and South Vietnam. The area suffered from heavy bombardment by US forces during the war to prevent support from the Northern military to forces at the Khe Sanh battleground in Huong Hoa district. Quang Tri province is among the localities that suffered the most in the aftermath of the war, with more than 390,000ha of land, or 82% of the province’s total area, getting contaminated with unexploded ordnance. According to the province’s Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, since the end of the war in 1975, bomb and mine accidents have killed and injured some 8,500 people, 31% of whom were children. (Vietnam News Agency Oct 20)