The bomb was moved to a safe location for detonation. — Photo from Lào Cai Province newspaper

LÀO CAI — The Military Command of Bảo Yên District in the northern mountainous province of Lào Cai on Thursday removed a 350-kilogramme bomb left from wartime in Bảo Hà Commune, and destroyed it safely.

The bomb was found lying at a depth of four metres on Monday by a worker while he was operating an excavator at a construction site of Bảo Hà No.1 Primary School in Bảo Hà Commune.

Receiving the information, the Bảo Hà Commune People’s Committee promptly zoned off the dangerous area, asked students to stay at home, and evacuated two households nearby.

Decades after the end of war, Việt Nam still suffers from the deadly threat from bombs, mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left by war.

According to the Việt Nam National Mine Action Centre, all 63 provinces and centrally-run cities in Vietnam are contaminated with UXO, with 6.1 million hectares of land in total (18.41 per cent of the country’s acreage) affected. It is estimated that between 600,000-800,000 tonnes of UXO are still hidden underground, and 110,000 people have so far become victims of UXO. — VNS