Flash floods unearth more Vietnam-war era bombs

Oct 9, 2007, 11:45 GMT

     Hanoi - Landslides and flash floods in northern Vietnam have unearthed six American-made bombs left over from the war, said a military official on Tuesday.

      The bombs were discovered after receding flood waters exposed their resting places in the mountainous region of Son La province about 320 kilometres west of Hanoi.

      Tran Dai Nghia with the Military Command in Moc Chau district said all the bombs were made in the US. The bombs, 1.2 metres long and 45 centimetres in diameter, were labeled as having been manufactured in 1966.

      'They have probably been here since the US bombed the roads from north-western Vietnam to Laos back in 1968,' said Nghia. 'There are probably more bombs buried in the area.'

      Three of the bombs were defused by the military. The remaining three will be dismantled after the flood emergency is over.

     Parts of northern and central Vietnam have been reeling from some of the worst floods the country has seen in decades. The floods were triggered by heavy rains from Typhoon Lekima that hit the central coast last Wednesday.

      'It was lucky that we found the bombs and defused them,' said Nghia. 'If local people had found the bombs and managed to cut them for explosives and steel scraps, there might have been deadly accidents.'

      Unexploded ordinances left over from the war with the US, kill and maim hundreds of Vietnamese each year. Many of the victims are children who find landmines while playing or helping their family in the fields.