Competent agencies on March 14 successfully handled a large bomb and a naval mine discovered in the central provinces of Quang Binh and Quang Ngai. The Military Command in Quang Ninh district of Quang Binh province joined hands with the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) to defuse a bomb weighing 750 pounds (350 kg) in a local house in the province’s Quan Hau township. The bomb measures 1.2 m in length. Some local households had to evacuate from dangerous areas. Also on May 14, the Engineer Corps of the Military Command of Quang Ngai province found and handled a naval mine in Duc Pho district. Measuring 1m in length and 100 kg in weight, it was discovered at a salt marsh in the district on March 6. According to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Vietnam is one of the countries most contaminated with unexploded ordnances (UXOs). It is estimated that about 800,000 tons of UXOs were left across the country after the war ended in 1975, mostly in the central region. Some 6.13 million hectares of land are polluted with or suspected of being polluted with UXOs, accounting for 18.82% of the country’s total area. Since 1975, UXO incidents have killed more than 40,000 people and injured 60,000 others, most of whom were breadwinners of their families or children. (Vietnam Plus Mar 15)
