38,000 Vietnamese people have been killed by unexploded ordinance since the end of that occupation

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/New_phase_starts_in_Vietnam_war_weapons_clearance.html?siteSect=143&sid=7244622&cKey=1163147923000

New phase starts in Vietnam war weapons clearance


<snip>Weapons disposal experts found and destroyed 6,025 pieces of unexploded ordnance and landmines in the northern and central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh and Quang Tri, the groups said. The second phase would complete any remaining work in those provinces and extend it to Nghe An in the north and Thua Thien Hue province in central Vietnam.

"There needs to be a national inspection to determine the amount of unexploded ordnance landmines that are still out there so we can deal with the issue thoroughly," Senior Colonel Nguyen Trong Canh said at Friday's event, which was attended by wounded victims of the ordnance.

The explosives hinder farming and the building of houses and roads as well as being dangerous to the public and the explosives experts trying to destroy them.

Since the war ended in 1975, bombs, artillery shells, mortar bombs and rockets have killed 38,000 people and wounded 64,000, Vietnam government figures show. The Defence Ministry estimates that 350,000 to 850,000 tons of weaponry remains scattered across all 64 provinces.

Vietnam estimates that only 20-25 percent of explosives left after the war have been cleared.

[velvet]

1. this chills me

the weapons go on killing long after the soldiers have gone

[On the Road]

2. And the US Still Doesn't Support the Ban on Land Mines