A 500 pound (227kg) bomb was discovered in Thanh commune on the bank of the Se Pon river, in central Quang Tri Province yesterday. Pham Thi Hoang Ha, of PeaceTrees Vietnam (PTVN), a non-governmental organization that has been searching for unexploded ordnance in Quang Tri since 1995, said PTVN's Exploded Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams were detonating and removing in Huong Hoa district, 70km away from Dong Ha city. The bomb, which has been classified as an MK82, is believed to have been dropped by the US air force during the war. The EOD teams have uncovered and removed nine 500-pound bombs in this area since 2009. The teams have dug up over 106,513 pieces of unexploded ordnance and cleared 163ha of minefields. The PTVN's Danaan Parry Landmines Education Centre in Dong Ha has provided landmine awareness education to more than 65,000 people in Quang Tri, 17,500 of them children. (Vietnam News Oct 18)
