Two 340-kg bombs found meters away from central Vietnam highway

Personnel of the PeaceTrees Vietnam organization, which addresses the legacy of war by removing dangerous explosives, found the bombs in a rubber tree garden of Nam Hieu 2 Village, Cam Lo District on Monday and Tuesday.

One bomb was found on Monday, a meter deep underground, 2.06 meters long and weighing 340 kilograms. The areas where the bomb was found had been barricaded and warning signs erected.

The bomb was removed from its position Tuesday morning.

At 10 a.m. the same morning, the second bomb was found just 70 meters from the first. It was also safely removed and transported to a location to be disposed of.

A M117 bomb’s detonation may cause vibrations that can be felt over a 1.5 kilometer radius, and its shrapnel could be blasted 134 meters away.

From 1954 to 1972, Ben Hai River in Quang Tri was a temporary demarcation line between the south and north of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

Quang Tri, as a result, suffered the most bombings throughout the war that lasted from 1955 to 1975, with 83% of its area contaminated by explosive remnants. Around 800,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance have been dealt with in the area thanks to the help of several non-governmental organizations.