Local police officers at the checkpoint guarding a cordoned-off section of Cầu Đất Street where a wartime bomb was discovered.

HẢI PHÒNG — Authorities temporarily closed a section of a busy street in the northern city of Hải Phòng on Friday after a wartime bomb was discovered beneath the foundation of a house during renovation.

The bomb was found on Thursday at a house at No.96 Cầu Đất Street in Lê Chân Ward while the property was being dismantled for renovation, according to local authorities.

The discovery prompted the Military Command of Hải Phòng and city police to cordon off the site and establish a plan to safely handle and remove the explosive device.

A section of Cầu Đất Street, stretching from the Cầu Đất–Hai Bà Trưng intersection to the Cầu Đất–Nguyễn Đức Cảnh intersection, was temporarily closed to pedestrians and vehicles from 6am to 11am on Friday to facilitate the operation and ensure public safety.

Police were deployed around the area to maintain security and regulate traffic during the operation.

Local authorities said the bomb was suspected to have been left over from the war against US aggression.

Cầu Đất is one of Hải Phòng's oldest and best-known streets. The area, which connects directly with the city's Opera House square, is now a busy commercial and service hub.

The street was also among areas of Hải Phòng heavily targeted by US air raids during the war.

Government figures estimate that about one-fifth of Việt Nam's land, or roughly 5.6 million hectares, remains contaminated by unexploded bombs, mines and other explosive remnants of war. An estimated 600,000–800,000 tonnes of wartime bombs and mines remain buried across the country.

Finding wartime ordnance during construction is quite common in parts of Việt Nam, but the discovery of a bomb in a crowded city area like Cầu Đất in modern time is relatively unusual. — VNS