VIENTIANE, Jan 16 (NNN-KPL) – Six people suffered serious injuries, when a landmine detonated, as people prepared land for the planting of cassava in southern Laos’ Attapeu province.
The incident took place in Viengxay village of Phouvong district in Attapeu province, some 560 km south-east of the Lao capital, Vientiane, on Jan 11, Lao national radio reported, today.
The explosion wounded three females and three males, two of whom were children, according to the report.
From Jan to Nov, 2023, 10 people died in 18 unexploded ordnance (UXO)-related accidents, that occurred across the country.
As indicated by the figures released in Apr, 2023, from 1996 to Feb, 2023, 1,808,254 UXO devices were removed and detonated in Laos, among which 1,056,393 were cluster bombs, 4,336 were large bombs and 2,456 were land mines.
A large number of UXO devices that remain in the ground have continued to cause physical damage and affect people’s livelihoods. It is an obstacle to the use of land for agricultural production, and an obstacle to the socio-economic development of Laos.
Throughout 1964-1973, over two million tonnes of ordnance were dropped on Laos by the U.S. air force, of which 30 percent failed to explode. Over 270 million cluster munitions were dropped from U.S. warplanes, leaving an estimated 80 million live bomblets scattered and buried around the country.– NNN-KPL
