Quang Ninh, Hoa Binh tackle war-left bombs

Quang Ninh (VNA) – Military forces in the northern provinces of Quang Ninh and Hoa Binh safely defused several war-left bombs on April 6.

In Quang Ninh, a man found a 250-kg bomb in Ha Long city’s Hong Ha ward at 7:30 am on April 6. He alerted the authorities and the local sappers transported the 1.45m-long bomb to a safe place for detonation within the morning.

In Hoa Binh, two bombs believed to date back to the anti-French resistance war were found at a pond in Hop Thinh commune, Ky Son district on April 5 when farmers dredged the pond for raising fish.

Weighing about 60 kg, each bomb is 80 cm long and 30 cm in diameter. The site was blockaded until the bombs were moved to a safe place for detonation the next morning.

Post-war bombs and mines have remained a daily threat to people and a headache for the Vietnamese Government.

 It is estimated that more than 6.1 million ha of land or 18.71 percent of Vietnam’s total area are contaminated with about 800,000 tonnes of bombs, mines and unexploded ordnances (UXO) left by wars, which are scattered over all 63 cities and provinces in the country, with the central region the hardest hit.

Between 1975 and now, bombs and mines killed more than 40,000 people and injured 60,000 others.

Each year, Vietnam decontaminated from 40,000-50,000 ha of land. However, it will take more than a century to clear all bombs and mines in the country, with an estimated cost of over 10 billion USD, excluding spending on resettlement and social welfare work in the danger zones.-VNA