Mortal shells from war era found at Vietnam construction site

By Hoang Tao   October 12, 2018 | 05:00 pm PT
Mortal shells from war era found at Vietnam construction site
Mortar shells among 590 pieces of ammunition found near the Thach Han River, Quang Tri Province. Photo by Ngo Hien
590 pieces of ammunition including mortar shells and rockets found in central Vietnam have been disposed of.

The bunker was discovered Wednesday at the construction site of a guest house for the local military headquarters near the Thach Han River in the central Quang Tri Province.

The 590 pieces of ammunition of various kinds were found in a two-meter-deep excavated hole.

The ammunitions were subsequently moved to a central demolition site in the province’s Trieu Phong District and disposed of on Thursday by an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from the RENEW project.

RENEW is a Vietnamese organization aiming to reduce the number of deaths and injuries from cluster bombs and other munitions remaining in the province after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

While the ammunitions still retained their fuses and explosives, they were deemed safe to be moved around.

Quang Tri Province was one of the main battlegrounds during the Vietnam War. It was the stage for the Tet Offensive in 1968 and the Easter Offensive in 1972.

Approximately 10,000 Vietnamese soldiers lost their lives in the two battles.

391,000 hectares of land in the province, accounting for 83.3 percent of its total area, were still infested with mines and other explosives from the war, according to official statistics.

 
 
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