[CPEO-MEF] MUNITIONS, GLOBAL: Vietnam cluster bomb cache

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

Mine Action ALERT
Project Renew
July 14, 2010

Hundreds of unexploded cluster bombs found near house in Quang Tri 
Province near former DMZ

Cam Tuyen, Cam Lo District, Quang Tri Province: Hundreds of unexploded 
cluster munitions, known as bombies, are being removed this week by a 
Project RENEW EOD team near the foundation of a home in Ba Thung 
Village, Cam Tuyen Commune of Cam Lo District.

Mr. Le Quang Minh, a carpenter who lives there with his family of six, 
desperately wanted the RENEW EOD team to come and remove the lingering 
fear he had carried silently for many years.  "I want my children to 
live safely and healthily," said Mr. Minh, the reason he called the 
RENEW team and asked for their help.

Ten years ago, while Mr. Minh was away, some local scrap collectors 
found a large number of unexploded bombs in a dispenser.  They dug a 
pit, backfilled the pit with dirt to cover it up, and left.  Minh was 
aware that the ordnance was buried near his house, and this year decided 
to take action.

One of the collectors who buried the ordnance years ago, who still lives 
in the same village, came back to help Mr. Minh and the RENEW EOD team 
find the site and locate the cache of cluster bombs buried near the 
house. The team began excavation work, and over a period of three days 
they found more than 200 cluster bombs.  Most were rusted and corroded, 
but the fuses were still hazardous if disturbed.

...

For the entire release, see
http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/540806/a8fb995b10/1491001909/25e44e8db3/

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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