Many people are injured or killed in Vietnam and other post conflict zones while scavenging scrap metal from bombs that failed to explode when initially dropped. Sadly, stories like the one below are all too common.This story is from the September 22 edition of Than Nien.
American wartime ordnance continues to kill in Vietnam
Three men were killed in Vietnam�s southern Dong Nai province Thursday while sawing an unexploded US artillery shell left from the Vietnam War 30 years ago.
Two of the middle-aged victims, Nguyen Van Hanh and Nguyen Van Nam, who were killed by the 105mm shell, earned their livelihoods by searching for and selling American wartime ordnance, according to a source.
Another 15 mortar shells were found at Nam�s house awaiting the hacksaw.
In 1996 Hanh�s brother was killed in a similar accident.
Many Vietnamese earn their living by hunting for American wartime munitions from which they extract the explosive.
The US military used more than 15 million tons of bombs, mines, artillery shells, and other kinds of munitions during the Vietnam War.
It is estimated that up to 10 per cent of these failed to explode.
Since the war ended in 1975, more than 38,000 people have been killed and over 100,000 injured as a result of this unexploded ordnance, according to the Ministry of Public Security.
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