Cluster Bomb / Submunition event in Gio Linh District, Trung Giang Commune area, Viet Nam on Thu 29th October 2020

Trieu Phong, Quang Tri (29 October 2020) — Explosive Ordnance Disposal team managed by Project RENEW/Norwegian People’s Aid on Thursday safely destroyed a U.S. 500-pound general-purpose Mk 82 bomb at the central demolition site in Trieu Trach Commune, Trieu Phong District Earlier, a fisherwoman who lives in Bac Son Village of Trung Giang Commune, Gio Linh District called the provincial Explosive Ordnance hotline phone number to report that she found a big bomb on the bank of Hien Luong River when she was fishing with her father. Ms. Nguyễn Thị Hạ said the recent flooding had eroded the river bank and thus exposed the bomb. The EOD team identified the bomb as a U.S. 500-pound General Purpose Mk 82. Determining that the bomb’s fuses had been damaged, the team decided to move the Mk 82 to the central demolition site for disposal. This explosive ordnance callout task was the tenth discovery of new explosive ordnance in Quang Tri province between 27 and 29 October, due to the floodwater that has been eroding soil and exposing these new items. The EOD hotline responses have resulted in 14 EO items being removed and safely destroyed, including five 40-mm grenades, five fuses, one 60-mm mortar, two cluster munitions, one 500-pound bomb. The NPA Survey and Clearance Program, implemented with Project RENEW, is funded by the U.S. Department of State and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. This is a cooperative project between NPA and Quang Tri Province Department of Foreign Affairs.