VIENTIANE, Feb 16 (NNN-KPL) – The Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) clearance team, MAG of Laos, found two huge unexploded bombs in southern Laos’ Khammuan province.
One large air-dropped bomb, weighing 750-lb was found near the side of a road in a padi field, in Sangpoungbone village, Gnommalath district of Khammuan province (some 250 km south-east of the Lao capital, Vientiane), according to the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), clearance team.
An MAG clearance team also found a huge 500-lb bomb in Nahome village, Khammuan province. The bomb was defused before being moved to the central demolition site, to be safely destroyed, local daily Vientiane Times reported today.
The MAG has been conducting UXO surveys and clearance, and explosive ordnance risk education in Bualapha, Gnommalat and Mahaxay districts in Khammuan province, over a period of 12 months.
Unexploded devices are an obstacle to economic and social development, contaminating land that could otherwise be used for the development of agriculture, industry, tourism, and the construction of infrastructure.
Laos is one of the most heavily bombed country in the world. Throughout 1964-1973, over two million tonnes of ordnance were dropped on Laos, of which 30 percent failed to explode.– NNN-KPL
