Quang Tri Province, Vietnam- A young boy was found dead by his mother last week after he failed to return home from farming peanuts early in the morning on July 8, 2005.
Duong Ba Tien, 14, apparently was digging in the dirt when an unknown Vietnam War era device exploded and killed him on the spot. His mother found him a few hours later.
"Here explosions happen all the time." his father reported to Clear Path Intenational a US based landmine and bomb accident survivor assistance program operating in central Vietnam "We hear explosions everyday."
View a video of his interview here in Windows Media Format.
Although the Vietnam War ended 30 years ago, by some estimates over 350,000 tons of bombs that did not detonate when dropped remain in the ground. This ordnance regularly claims lives and limbs in this still war-ravaged province. Since the conflict ended in 1975, nearly 40,000 Vietnamese have been killed by by these munitions.
Clear Path International serves landmine and bomb accident survivors, their families and their communities in former war zones in Southeast Asia. This assistance takes the form of both direct and indirect medical and social services to survivor families as well as equipment support to hospitals. Current Clear Path projects are in Vietnam, Cambodia and on the Thai-Burma border.
More information about Clear Path International can be found on the web at www.cpi.org.
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