Sappers from the Military High Command of northern Yen Bai province safely destroyed a 340-kg bomb dropped by the US troops between 1968 and 1970 during the war in Vietnam.
The bomb was discovered in late October at a construction site near Khao Mang Thuong hydro power plant in Mu Cang Chai district.
According to the Technology Centre for Bomb and Mine Disposal under the Engineering Command, up to 7,645 of the 8,686 communes in Vietnam’s 63 provinces and cities are polluted with unexploded ordnance (UXOs).
The US army used more than 15 million tonnes of bombs and mines in the war in Vietnam, four times the amount used in World War 2. As a result, Vietnam has been listed among the countries most contaminated with UXOs.
According to the National Steering Committee for Recovery over Postwar Bomb and Landmine Impacts, about 800,000 tonnes of UXOs are scattering across 6.6 million hectares, or 20.12 percent of the country’s land, mainly in the central region, putting people in danger every day.
Vietnam has cleared hundreds of thousands of hectares of UXOs so far. Between 2012 and 2013 alone, more than 100,000 hectares of land were demined.-VNA
The bomb was discovered in late October at a construction site near Khao Mang Thuong hydro power plant in Mu Cang Chai district.
According to the Technology Centre for Bomb and Mine Disposal under the Engineering Command, up to 7,645 of the 8,686 communes in Vietnam’s 63 provinces and cities are polluted with unexploded ordnance (UXOs).
The US army used more than 15 million tonnes of bombs and mines in the war in Vietnam, four times the amount used in World War 2. As a result, Vietnam has been listed among the countries most contaminated with UXOs.
According to the National Steering Committee for Recovery over Postwar Bomb and Landmine Impacts, about 800,000 tonnes of UXOs are scattering across 6.6 million hectares, or 20.12 percent of the country’s land, mainly in the central region, putting people in danger every day.
Vietnam has cleared hundreds of thousands of hectares of UXOs so far. Between 2012 and 2013 alone, more than 100,000 hectares of land were demined.-VNA
