Phu Yen (VNA) – An unexploded bombweighing 225kg has been defused in Hoa Xuan Tay commune, Dong Hoa district, thesouth central coastal province of Phu Yen.
The bomb was found 200 metres from a residentialarea in Thach Cham village on December 27 by the provincial Military Commandand the bomb clearance team of the Corporation 319 under the Ministry ofNational Defence.
The bomb lied about two metres beneath the ground.It has the code of MK82 and is about 1.54m long.
Right after discovering the bomb, the bombclearance team and local military forces quarantined the site and safelydefused the explosive device.
A preliminary survey in 2002 showed that nearly9,300 communes with 6.6 million hectares of land across Vietnam werecontaminated with unexploded ordnances (UXOs), accounting for 21.1 percent ofthe country’s land area. The central region is the most contaminated.
UXOs claimed 42,135 lives and injured 62,163others from 1975 to 2000. The State has spent tens of millions of USD everyyear on UXO disposal and providing vocational training to and resettling UXOvictims.-VNA