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| A mobile explosive ordnance disposal team in central Quang Tri Province cleared two arsenals storing hundreds of unexploded arms left from the war in Huong Hoa District's Khe Sanh Township yesterday morning |
Nguyen Van Cuong, the team leader, said that all the arms still had oxygenated fuses, making the situation more dangerous for the clearers.Some arms also contained high amounts of phosphorus, raising the risk of explosions.
He told Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper that each arsenal stored some 400-600 shells and mines of various kinds. These would take significant time to clear, he said.
Pham Hoang Ha, a project officer of the bomb removal organisation Peace Trees Vietnam, said that every year, mobile teams cleared more than 8,000 landmines and unexploded ordnances (UXO) in Quang Tri Province.
The organisation would also continue to help with bomb clearance efforts in Huong Hoa and Dakrong districts, she said.
Quang Tri was the hardest-hit province in the war. Nearly 400,000 hectares of the 461,000 hectare province still contain bombs and mines. Every year, some 2,300-2,500 hectares of land are cleared.
300 cluster bombs cleared
Meanwhile, in the northern province of Phu Tho, local military forces cleared nearly 300 cluster bombs on an area of 2.9 hectares in Doan Hung District's Dong Mau Hamlet.
The one-week bomb clearance campaign, which ended yesterday, was conducted so that the local Na Hang Hydro Power Plant can release water for agricultural cultivation.
"We will continue the search and clearance for bombs and mines after the farmers finish their cultivation to increase the safe area," said Colonel Nguyen Van Phan, deputy head of the Doan Hung District's Military Commander.
Last year, the provincial military commander found and safely disposed of 11 large bombs weighing from 50-350kilos as well as hundred of cluster bombs and mortar shells.
The province has many other bombs and mines left from the war, causing danger for local people. A cluster bomb exploded inside Tien Phong High School last year, injuring four students. Last year, the soldiers found a large bomb in the hamlet's river that held other cluster bombs inside.