A 12-year-old boy was killed and two others were critically injured Saturday when a war-era cluster bomb they found in a field went off in the central province of Nghe An, the online newspaper Vietnamnet reported.The explosion occurred in Nghi Loc District when Duong Van Long, 15, tossed it thinking that it had already been defused.Long and two friends, Le Van Loc and Le Van Thang, both 12, who had gone with him to catch crabs, were severely injured.Locals rushed them to the Nghi Loc General Hospital, but Thang succumbed the next day despite being transferred to Hanoi for further treatment.Local agencies have sealed off the field, and will search for unexploded ordnance there as well as nearby.Around 6.6 million hectares of land, or more than a fifth of Vietnam's total area, were feared to have unexploded ordnance left behind from the war, according to official figures.Only 300,000 hectares (740,000 acres) have been cleared so far.Experts estimate it will take hundreds of years and billions of dollars to completely clear Vietnam of leftover bombs, shells, and mines. (Thanh Nien – Young People Dec 31)
