Wartime munitions found under Central Highlands road in Vietnam

They were found in a bunker under a road in Bao Loc town, more than two hours southwest of the popular resort town Da Lat, when a group of construction workers were digging holes for erecting a lighting system.

An official from the Bao Loc military headquarters said the munitions were most likely leftovers from Vietnam’s wartime.

The munitions and explosive materials were subsequently disposed of.

Decades after the Vietnam War ended, unexploded ordnance still threatens a fifth of the country’s land mass and explosions occur frequently, killing more than 1,500 people every year and maiming and injuring 2,200 more, according to official data.

According to the United Nations, 104,000 Vietnamese people have been killed by bombs, landmines and artillery shells since the end of the war in 1975.

Many people from poor rural areas are killed or maimed by inadvertently triggering the devices, or while trying to cut them open to resell the explosives and scrap metal.