Five Vietnamese prosecuted for dismantling wartime bomb

By VnExpress   April 27, 2017 | 08:01 pm PT
The group cut open the bomb overnight to take the explosive for sale. 

Police from the southern province of Tay Ninh have launched investigation into an incident in which five locals were accused of stealing a bomb to take explosive for sale, a local newspaper reported. 

On March 27, several locals unearthed a 1.24-meter (4-feet) long bomb while digging a tunnel in Phuoc Vinh Commune and alerted the local authorities, Tuoi Tre said.  Tay Ninh Province lies on the border with Cambodia, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Ho Chi Minh City.

Before the authority could make a decision on safe disposal, four men, including a scavenger, moved in to cut open the bomb at the night on March 29 and sold the explosive to a woman for VND20 million ($880), the report said.

Later, upon learning about the police's manhunt, they turned themselves in.

Across Vietnam, a fifth of land is contaminated with unexploded ordnance and explosions occur frequently, killing more than 1,500 people every year, while another 2,200 were maimed, according to official data.

 
 
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