Vietnam Province Defuses 4 Tons of Wartime Bombs, Mines

An Giang province recently organized a large-scale bomb and mine detecting campaign and located over four tons of high explosives, the Vietnamnet.vn reported. The campaign was implemented by technicians from the military headquarters of this lower Delta province.  They detected bombs and mines around bases established during the war against the Americans and Saigon regime and the war to defend the southwestern border against Khmer Rouge incursions in the districts of Tan Chau, Tinh Bien and Tri Ton.  The munitions included a 225 kilo bomb, another of 315 kilos, and a napalm bomb in residential areas in Tri Ton. They defused over ten large bombs. Few if any nations have more bomb and mine ‘pollution’ than Vietnam.  There are estimated to be over 800,000 tons of explosives left after wars, covering over 20 percent of the country’s area. Since 1975, over 40,000 Vietnamese have died and 60,000 others injured by such ordinance.