This article first published by Ohmynews on 2006-08-21 15:38 (KST)
On Aug. 13, in the Hoai An district of the central province of Binh Dinh, four 13- to 15-year-old boys died after they found a U.S.-made M79 rifle grenade and broke it open to get the gunpowder. The grenade exploded, killing three of the boys on the spot and seriously wounding the other. The wounded boy later died on the way to the hospital.
The deaths of the four boys can be added to the long list of victims of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Vietnam. It also exposes the need to educate civilians about the danger of UXO. In the same province, in 2004, seven people died when they broke open a 105-mm cannon round. Neighbors told local authorities that they had hoped to sell the gunpowder to fishermen.
Landmines and UXO are considered one of the factors hindering the rebuilding of Vietnam. Statistics released by the U.S. Army show that about 15 million tons of bombs, landmines, and munitions of all kinds were used during the Vietnam War. Of those, about 15 to 20 percent failed to detonate on impact and continue to pose a danger to the population.
No official national aggregate statistics exist on landmines and UXO, but it is estimated that the number may reach 800,000 tons, covering nearly 7 million hectares of land (about 20 percent of Vietnam) with an average density of 46 tons per square kilometer, or 280 kilograms per capita. The Peace Trees, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Vietnam, said there is now more than 5.3 million UXO in the ground. The most common types of UXO found in Vietnam are M79 rifle grenades and BLU cluster bombs.
According to a report released by the Vietnamese Ministry of Police, since the end of the war in 1975, abandoned U.S. munitions killed more than 38,000 people and wounded more than 100,000. Accidents often happen when people are clearing land for cultivation, collecting scraps for reprocessing, or attempting to retrieve the gunpowder from munitions.
Currently, Vietnam does not have a national program for clearing mines and defusing UXO, although the Ministry of Defense and provincial officials carry out these activities on a regular basis. Vietnam has cleared nearly 5 million mines and defused more than 8 million UXO, as well as about 10,000 tons of bombs. The Vietnamese government has also stepped up an education program to raise awareness of the danger of UXO and landmines.
Despite its efforts, Vietnam still has a long way to go. Colonel Phan Van Tien, an officer in BOMICEN, a military engineer unit that specializes in clearing mines and defusing UXO, says that at the current rate of removal, it will take 140 years to complete.
Vietnam has received active assistance and cooperation from the outside world, especially from the U.S. government and NGOs. There has been up to 35 NGOs helping Vietnam in its effort to clear munitions, including Solidaritatsdienst-international (SODI), Potsdam Kommunikation, Australian Volunteers International, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (see Project RENEW).
The U.S. government is now the largest donor of humanitarian assistance in Vietnam. Since 1993, it has spent US$33 million for projects that locate, remove, and destroy munitions as well as activities to minimize the negative aftermath of war on the Vietnamese people's health and livelihoods. Besides providing funds, the U.S. also donated ambulances, fire trucks, motorcycles, mine detectors, individual protective equipment, and other specialized equipment to support munitions removal activities.
The U.S. Department of State sponsored the first phase of an UXO-landmine impact survey, which began in March 2004 and finished in March 2005. Under the project, 344 communities in the three central provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Ha Tinh, were surveyed, and 5,000 participants were interviewed. The results led directly to the clearance of more than 6,200 UXO with a budget of $1,158,000.
The second phase of the project is under negotiation and is expected to start soon. The provinces to be surveyed in this phase will be Nghe An, Thua Thien-Hue, and Quang Nam, as well as Da Nang City.
The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi revealed that the U.S. Department of State planned to donate an additional $3.3 million to support local munitions clearing activities in fiscal year 2006.
On Aug. 13, in the Hoai An district of the central province of Binh Dinh, four 13- to 15-year-old boys died after they found a U.S.-made M79 rifle grenade and broke it open to get the gunpowder. The grenade exploded, killing three of the boys on the spot and seriously wounding the other. The wounded boy later died on the way to the hospital.
The deaths of the four boys can be added to the long list of victims of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Vietnam. It also exposes the need to educate civilians about the danger of UXO. In the same province, in 2004, seven people died when they broke open a 105-mm cannon round. Neighbors told local authorities that they had hoped to sell the gunpowder to fishermen.
Landmines and UXO are considered one of the factors hindering the rebuilding of Vietnam. Statistics released by the U.S. Army show that about 15 million tons of bombs, landmines, and munitions of all kinds were used during the Vietnam War. Of those, about 15 to 20 percent failed to detonate on impact and continue to pose a danger to the population.
No official national aggregate statistics exist on landmines and UXO, but it is estimated that the number may reach 800,000 tons, covering nearly 7 million hectares of land (about 20 percent of Vietnam) with an average density of 46 tons per square kilometer, or 280 kilograms per capita. The Peace Trees, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Vietnam, said there is now more than 5.3 million UXO in the ground. The most common types of UXO found in Vietnam are M79 rifle grenades and BLU cluster bombs.
According to a report released by the Vietnamese Ministry of Police, since the end of the war in 1975, abandoned U.S. munitions killed more than 38,000 people and wounded more than 100,000. Accidents often happen when people are clearing land for cultivation, collecting scraps for reprocessing, or attempting to retrieve the gunpowder from munitions.
Currently, Vietnam does not have a national program for clearing mines and defusing UXO, although the Ministry of Defense and provincial officials carry out these activities on a regular basis. Vietnam has cleared nearly 5 million mines and defused more than 8 million UXO, as well as about 10,000 tons of bombs. The Vietnamese government has also stepped up an education program to raise awareness of the danger of UXO and landmines.
Despite its efforts, Vietnam still has a long way to go. Colonel Phan Van Tien, an officer in BOMICEN, a military engineer unit that specializes in clearing mines and defusing UXO, says that at the current rate of removal, it will take 140 years to complete.
Vietnam has received active assistance and cooperation from the outside world, especially from the U.S. government and NGOs. There has been up to 35 NGOs helping Vietnam in its effort to clear munitions, including Solidaritatsdienst-international (SODI), Potsdam Kommunikation, Australian Volunteers International, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (see Project RENEW).
The U.S. government is now the largest donor of humanitarian assistance in Vietnam. Since 1993, it has spent US$33 million for projects that locate, remove, and destroy munitions as well as activities to minimize the negative aftermath of war on the Vietnamese people's health and livelihoods. Besides providing funds, the U.S. also donated ambulances, fire trucks, motorcycles, mine detectors, individual protective equipment, and other specialized equipment to support munitions removal activities.
The U.S. Department of State sponsored the first phase of an UXO-landmine impact survey, which began in March 2004 and finished in March 2005. Under the project, 344 communities in the three central provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Ha Tinh, were surveyed, and 5,000 participants were interviewed. The results led directly to the clearance of more than 6,200 UXO with a budget of $1,158,000.
The second phase of the project is under negotiation and is expected to start soon. The provinces to be surveyed in this phase will be Nghe An, Thua Thien-Hue, and Quang Nam, as well as Da Nang City.
The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi revealed that the U.S. Department of State planned to donate an additional $3.3 million to support local munitions clearing activities in fiscal year 2006.
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