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| Two members of PeaceTrees Viet Nam's Exploded Ordnance Disposal team remove a bomb from a mountainous area in Quảng Trị Province. Four bombs were safely removed from landslide sites. Photo courtesy of PTVN |
QUẢNG TRỊ — Bomb squads from PeaceTrees Việt Nam (PTVN) have successfully removed four large devices that were exposed during the recent landslides and flooding in the districts of Hướng Hóa and Đắk Rông in Quảng Trị Province. Three others remain in situ due to poor traffic conditions and the threat of more landslides in mountainous areas.
Phạm Thị Hoàng Hà from PTVN said three of the bombs had been identified as MK82 models.
She said four of the seven bombs had been moved to PTVN’s unexploded ordnance (UXO) store before demolition.
“Despite the difficult conditions and the challenges we faced accessing the districts of Hướng Hóa and Đắk Rong after the terrifying floods and landslides, PTVN’s teams still deployed to check, identify and then safely move the bombs,” Hà said.
“Teams will continue their work of figuring out a safe plan to deal with the remaining bombs after the flooding recedes.”
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| A bomb exposed by a landslide in Quảng Trị Province. Removal of the bombs has been implemented by teams in the province. Photo courtesy of PTVN |
Hà said the UXO demolition site in Quảng Trị Province was submerged at present, so the bombs would be destroyed later.
According to PTVN, an NGO from the US that has been working on UXO mission in the province since 1995, about 48,000 hectares had been decontaminated from landmines and UXOs. PTVN has handled nearly 118,000 explosives, as well as planted 44,000 trees on safe land.
It has granted 2,300 scholarships for UXO survivors, and support programmes for their families have helped minimise the disruption caused to local socio-economic development, as well as building 16 schools and 12 libraries for children and families to access education. These schools were being built on land which had been cleared of UXOs, according to PTVN.
The PTVN’s Danaan Parry Landmines Education Centre in Đông Hà City has provided landmine awareness courses for more than 138,000 people in the province, 17,500 of them children.
Donations of food, water and logistics from PTVN and other donors have also been sent to flood affected areas in the province's mountainous region. — VNS
