The CPI VN staff just received word on this and sent it here... it happened about 2 weeks ago... they are responding today.
Source: Agence France Presse -- English
Three girls aged between 10 and 12 were killed and two others injured when a US-made M79 bomb dating back to the Vietnam War exploded in central Dak Lak province, police said Thursday.
"The schoolgirls didn't know that it was a piece of ordnance and were
playing with it, after having found it in a forest nearby," the officer in Madrac district told AFP.
The accident was on March 11, he said.
"The blast happened after one of the girls tried to break open the shell with a piece of stone. Two more schoolgirls were seriously injured and have been hospitalised," he said.
According to the US military, more than 15 million tonnes of bombs, mines,artillery shells and other munitions were used during the war, which ended in 1975. As much as 10 percent of the ordnance is estimated to have failed to explode
Since the war ended, more than 38,000 people have been killed and more than 100,000 injured as a result of this unexploded ordnance, according to the Ministry of Public Security.
Most of the blasts are triggered by people farming or trying to salvage the metal casings and explosives from the munitions. The metal is usually sold for scrap, while the explosives are used by fishermen.
James : need link in for this stat..
ReplyDelete"Since the war ended, more than 38,000 people have been killed and more than 100,000 injured as a result of this unexploded ordnance, according to the Ministry of Public Security."
which Government and dept ??
thks
Hi Peter-
ReplyDeleteThose figures come from the Vietnamese government. We actually think the numbers may be low as accidents involving UXO (unexploded ordnance) often go unreported.
Thanks!
JH