860kg Artillery Being Defused in Vietnam Central Province

The military command of this central province, in co-operation with the Mine Advisory Group (MAG), defused a large artillery shell in Gio Linh District of Quang Tri Province. The shell, which was found on Monday buried 3m underground by a farmer while digging a hole in his garden for planting cassava, weighed 860kg and was 1.3m long with a diameter of 40cm. The live shell, suspected to be a 16in HC-MK13, was shot from a United States warship during the war in Vietnam. The Tuoi Tre (Youth) quoted a local provincial military official as saying that it could cause casualties in localities within a radius of 1sq.km radius. He said the MAG team, which comprised a team of mobile bomb and landmine clearance personnel, had planned to excavate and de-activate the shell on Wednesday, but heavy rain made the area very muddy and hindered the work. All locals had been evacuated from the area before the team began defusing the bomb. The team was expected to complete the task on Nov 4, he said. (http://vietnamnews.vn/ Nov 5)