Quang Tri: 119kg wartime bomb successfully handled

Quang Tri (VNA) – The PeaceTrees Vietnam (PTVN), the first US NGO licensed to operate in the search and clearance of unexploded ordnances (UXOs) in Vietnam, said it has successfully handled a 119kg MK81 bomb left from the war discovered in the central province of Quang Tri.  

The high-explosive, aircraft bomb was detected by Ho Van Thanh, a resident in Huong Hoa district, when doing farm works.

Informed of the explosive found at a depth of 15cm, a PTVN mobile mine clearance team quickly arrived at the scene. They then moved the bomb, with a diameter of 230mm and a length of 1.88m, to a place for detonation.

The PTVN operates in the central region to support communities and people severely affected by the consequences of war via humanitarian actions and development assistance. Between 1995 and now, the organisation has handled over 140,000 explosives, cleared over 2,200 hectares of land, educated over 180,000 people on mine accident prevention, built kindergartens, and aided victims and their families.

Quang Tri is the most polluted locality in Vietnam in terms of UXOs. Landmines and bombs have killed over 3,430 people and injured 5,100 others since the war ended in 1975.

So far, 34 non-governmental and 23 international organisations have joined bomb and mine clearance efforts in the province, which targets becoming the first locality nationwide to be free from wartime bombs, mines and other UXOs by 2025./.