A 220-kilogramme bomb left from the American War was dismantled and safely detonated in the southern province of Tay Ninh's Tan Bien District on October 4.
A 220-kilogramme bomb left from the American War is dismantled and safely detonated in the southern province of Tay Ninh's Tan Bien District on October 4
The bomb was detected at 10 am on September 28 when a group of workers from Hoa Nhai Company in Tan Bien District was constructing an underground wastewater storage tank. A security perimeter was established at the bomb site to ensure public safety and then Tan Bien District’s Military Command sent staff to uncover the bomb which was lying a metre underground.
Lieutenant-colonel Tran Van Ngoc from Tan Bien District’s Military Command said that the bomb was an MK 82 measuring 1.5 metres long and 220 kilos in weight.
"The bomb could have killed or seriously injured people within a 100-metre blast radius," Ngoc said.
Since the war ended in 1975, the Vietnamese government has spent USD80-100 million attempting to address leftover unexploded ordnance (UXO) issues every year and has received support from domestic and international organisations.
About 800,000 tonnes of bombs, mines, and other explosive weapons were left and buried in Vietnam after the war against the US and southern Vietnamese from 1954 to 1975.
All 63 provinces and cities in the country have been contaminated with UXOs, but the clearance has only been carried out in some northern provinces such as Ha Giang and Lang Son and six central provinces including Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Quang Ngai.
