Truong Son Construction Company in the central province of Quang Tri discovered hundreds of unexploded ordnances left over from the US war in Ka Tang hamlet, Lao Bao town in Huong Hoa district on October 5.

The company, a subsidiary of Troop 12, was disarming explosive materials prior to commencing the Lao Bao international border gate expansion project when workers discovered 159 unexploded ordnances 2.5m below a basement.

The weaponry, including 33 missiles of type 130, 3 missiles of type 175, 70 bombs of type M79, 3 grenades and 50 shrapnel bombs, were collected and brought to a storage facility.

The company cooperated closely with the border guard force at Lao Bao border gate to expand the search on the area, where, according to local residents, farmers frequently found bombs and bullets.

Previously, it disarmed a number of shrapnel bombs remaining from the war.
An estimated 800,000 tonnes out of the 7.8 million tonnes of explosives dropped by US forces on Vietnam failed to detonate, affecting over 20 percent of the country.

Quang Tri is the most heavily contaminated province. More than three decades after the war, it is still affected by explosive remnants of war (ERW) which have killed and injured 7,081 people (1.2 percent of the total population) since 1975.-VNA