On Tuesday morning, the Cam Lo District Centre for Market, Environment and Urban Management announced that a staff member, Pham Van Chien, found eight grenades in a bag while classifying rubbish for incineration at 7 pm on July 29.
"Chien saw some metal objects in a bag and looked closely at them," the centre said. He found eight rusted grenades with intact detonators, about 20cm long and 4cm in diameter.
Chien immediately reported the finding to his managers, who then called local authorities to request safe removal. The centre said the grenades might have dated back to the US War.
It is estimated that approximately 800,000 tonnes of explosives were left across Vietnam after the conflict, most of which are concentrated in the central and southeastern regions and the Central Highlands, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs.
Around 5.6 million hectares, equivalent to 17.71 per cent of Vietnam's total area, are still contaminated with unexploded ordnance as of the end of 2023.
