Big bomb found by North-South railway route

A 340-kilo United States bomb dating back to the American War has been detected by a section of the North-South railway section which runs through the central province of Quang Binh.

The 350-kg M117 bomb was discovered by a local while she was collecting scarp along the railway section in Tuyen Hoa District’s Kim Ninh Village. It was at a depth of 60 cm, around six metres from the railway.

 

The bomb has been found in Tuyen Hoa District

After being informed, local authorities cordoned off the area.

The bomb has been transported to a military area to await a controlled explosion.

According to statistics released in 2009 by the Ministry of Defence’s Technology Centre for Bomb and Mine Disposal and the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, nearly 225,000ha of land across all communes, wards and townships in Quang Binh were contaminated with UXO, accounting for 27.9 percent of the province.

UXOs contaminated 96.9 percent of residential land, 95 percent of agricultural land, and 84.3 percent of land under perennial trees.