Groups of foreign backpackers have joined tours to witness mine explosion in Vietnam’s central province of Quang Tri, experiencing adventurous trips and being conscious of hardship left in the Vietnam War. Thomas Stone who supports the tours said that bringing the foreigners here is a best way to let them know about part of the war and post-war consequences which harm Quang Tri’s residents though the war ended for 40 years. Liam O’connell, 21, from UK, said after the big boom “It’s hard to describe my feelings right now. I was rather shocked.” The young visitors quickly posted photos and videos of the explosions on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. They were also given debris to bring home. The Quang Tri unexploded ordnance (UXO) Tour has run for two years now as a partnership between the Norwegian-funded Restoring the Environment and Neutralizing the Effects of the War (RENEW) project and the Vietnam Backpackers Hostels, which now operates three hostels in Hanoi and Hue. The organizers have held 76 similar tours so far with the participation of young people aging between 18 and 30 from Western countries, including U.S., UK, Norway, and the Netherlands. Quang Tri, the hardest-hit UXO locality in Vietnam, has 3,866 square kilometers of land or 83% of its total land affected by UXO. During 1975-2010, the province has more than 7,000 people with 31% children being victims of UXO accidents. The province was a center for American military bases during the Vietnam War and a principle battleground during the 1968 Tet Offensive. An estimated 400,000 pieces of UXO remain buried across 480,000 hectares of land in Quang Tri. Since the war, buried bombs have killed 40,000 people nationwide and 60,000 injured, nearly half of them are children below 16. (Thanhniennews.com Aug 8)
