Air Delivered event in Tra Vinh, Chau Thanh area, Viet Nam on Thu 2nd November 2023

Military forces have safely removed an unexploded wartime bomb from a river in Tra Vinh Province, southern Vietnam, the provincial Military Command said on Thursday, adding that the bomb weighs nearly 340kg.

The bomb was identified as a MK82 bomb, which was manufactured by the U.S. and left in the aftermath of the war in Vietnam.

The two-meter-long bomb still has a detonator.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Minh Toan, deputy commander and chief of staff of the Military Command in Chau Thanh District, Tra Vinh Province, said local residents detected the bomb on October 10 while they were fishing on the Co Chien River.

After receiving the news, the Chau Thanh District Military Command appointed officers to erect a warning sign in the area and reported the case to the provincial Military Command.

The bomb’s detonator was intact although the explosive device was buried under sand and water for a long time, which would be extremely dangerous if there was a great impact on it or it was removed in a wrong way, according to Major Bao Quoc Ve from the Tra Vinh Military Command.

This is the fourth bomb that the Tra Vinh Military Command has safely collected and transported to a regulated site this year following reports by local residents.

The bomb will be detonated on Thursday next week.