Boy killed by unexploded bomb in Vietnam

Sep 9, 2009, 6:14 GMT

   Hanoi - A farmer and his son digging a fish pond accidentally detonated a Vietnam War-era bomb, killing the boy and severely injuring his father, a local official said Wednesday.

   Dinh Huu Thong, 41, and his son Dinh Huu Hoang, 15, struck what Vietnamese call a mini-bomb with their shovels while digging in front of their house in the Duc Tho district of Ha Thinh province, some 300 kilometres south of Hanoi.

   Vo Cong Ham, chairman of the Duc Tho People's Committee, said Hoang was killed on the spot, while Thong suffered broken arms and facial injuries.

   The term mini-bomb refers to the small bomblets released from cluster bombs, which were used extensively by US forces during the Vietnam War.

   According to the bomb removal authority the Ministry of Defence, unexploded munitions have killed over 10,000 people and wounded over 12,000 in Vietnam's six central provinces since the war ended in 1975. That includes 437 people killed in 2008.

   In November 2008, the bomb disposal centre's chief told a conference in Ho Chi Minh City that an estimated 800,000 tons of bombs, landmines and artillery are still buried across the country, over an area of 6.6 million hectares.

   Between 15,000 and 20,000 hectares are cleared of unexploded ordnance each year. At the current rate it will take Vietnam another 440 years to finish clearing the country.