Yen Bai (VNA) – Sappers in the northern mountainousprovince of Yen Bai on February 7 defused a US-made bomb weighing about 340 kgin Tan Lap commune, Luc Yen district.
The bomb, used by US troops between 1968 and 1970, was found byHoang Thi Thanh and her family members while they were doing farm work.
According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalidsand Social Affairs, Vietnam is one of countries most contaminated withUXOs.
It is estimated that about 800,000 tonnes ofUXOs were left across the country after the war ended in 1975, mostly in thecentral region. Some 6.13 million hectares of land are polluted with orsuspected of being polluted with UXOs, accounting for 18.82 percent of the country’stotal area.
Since 1975, UXO incidents have killed more than 40,000 peopleand injured 60,000 others, most of whom were breadwinners of their families orchildren./.