February 19, 2023 | 17:48 (GMT+7)
Wartime bomb safely removed from seabed in Quang Binh
The military force in the Central province of Quang Binh has removed a bomb left from wartime from the seabed offshore Quang Trach district and destroyed it safely, the command of the province’s border guard force said on February 19.
    |
 |
|
The bomb is moved onto a car to be transported to the designated site for detonation. |
A local fisherman detected the 1.6m long bomb about 100m from the shore on February 13 and quickly alerted the local border guard station, which promptly zoned off the dangerous area and informed relevant authorities.
On February 18, military personnel in the province removed the bomb from the seabed safely and transported to the designated site for detonation. The bomb is a MK-82 500LBS and dropped during the U.S. war.
Decades after the end of war, Vietnam still suffers from the deadly threat from bombs, mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left by war.
According to the Vietnam National Mine Action Center, all 63 provinces and centrally-run cities in Vietnam are contaminated with UXO, with 5.6 million hectares of land in total (17.71% of the country’s acreage) affected. It is estimated that between 600,000 – 800,000 tons of UXO are still hidden underground, and 110,000 people have so far become victims of UXO.
Source: VNA