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| The centre's staff discover UXOs left from the war |
PANO - The centre for bomb and mine disposal and environment of Military Zone 5, with their strong will and courage, has revitalized thousands of hectares of earth covering unexploded ordnances (UXOs) left from the war.
In late 2014, the centre’s bomb and mine disposal unit No. 3 tirelessly detected UXOs at the foot of a hill in Hoa Phat ward, Cam Le district, Da Nang city, despite strong winds and chilliness.
With high concentration, they carefully removed each layer of earth to expose hundreds of shells.
The place where the unit’s staff was working at used to be an arsenal of US troops, containing many UXOs, including mostly ammunition for M79 grenade launcher, M72 light anti-armour weapon, 81mm mortar shells and different mines and grenades with intact detonators.
Showing 3x4x2m pits full of bombs and mines of different shapes and sizes, Captain Hoang Ba Khue, the centre’s director, said that the threat of bombs and mines underground for decades still remain. Explosives can cause casualities if they are activated by even a weight of 0.5kg.
According to the director, found UXOs are classified and gathered in a set location for monitoring. Moving the UXOs is as difficult and dangerous as unearthing them. “A sudden brake, several small stones, or some potholes on the way could result in unexpected bad consequences”, said the director.
Over the past eight years, the centre has been involved in detecting UXOs for nearly 500 different structures, destroying more than 85 tonnes of UXOs and bringing new life to more than 2,400 hectares of uncultivated land.
To that end, the centre’s troops have had to surmount hardship and follow maps to reach old battlefields, which used to be homefronts, infirmaries, strategic villages, for UXO deactivation to bring peace to locals.
Translated by Mai Huong