Vietnamese military finds two unexploded bombs

By Phan Anh October 8, 2019 | 02:02 am PT

A 226-kilogram Mark 82 bomb is collected by personnel of the Quang Binh military command, October 5, 2019. Photo courtesy of the Quang Binh newspaper.

Two bombs of 339 kilograms were recently found and disposed of in northern Quang Ninh Province and central Quang Binh Province.

A 113-kilogram bomb was found on Monday next to a construction site in Quang Ninh's Ha Long town, home to the famous Ha Long Bay, local media reported. The U.S.-made bomb, which is 1.5-meters long with a 40-centimeter radius, was disposed of the same day.

Another 226-kilogram bomb was found by the Quang Binh military command in Bo Trach District last Saturday. The bomb, a Mark 82, was then disposed of by the military command's engineering division.

Unexploded ordnance still threatens a fifth of Vietnam's land mass and explosions are not uncommon. According to the United Nations, 104,000 Vietnamese people have been killed by bombs, landmines and artillery shells since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

Many people from poor rural areas have been killed or maimed by inadvertently triggering the bombs or while trying to cut them open to resell the explosives and the metal to scrap dealers.