While working with two other local men on their ferry sucking sand in Ben Hai River, Ly Thong, 35 year-old man, was seriously injured by an ordnance explosion right at the time he approached to cool the machine with water.
Gio Linh District, Quang Tri Province – About 14:30 of September 1, 2009, while working with two other local men on their ferry sucking sand in Ben Hai River, Ly Thong, 35 year-old man, was seriously injured by an ordnance explosion right at the time he approached to cool the machine with water.
The explosion, which took place at the river upstream which belongs to Trung Son commune, Gio Linh District 22km away from the Ben Hai Bridge, torn the spinning reel into fragments which cut his left leg and right hand. It was believed that the sucking tube, about 20cm wide, had sucked in a live ordnance from the river bottom and caused it explode at the spinning reel.
Mr. Thong was administered first aid by a clearance team from MAG who rushed to check the scene after they heard the accident. Thong then was transported to Quang Tri Province Hospital for further medical treatment.
According to Mr. Thong’s relatives, it is common for sand sucking ferries like his to find small caliber unexploded ordnance like cluster bombs or 40mm grenades. They didn’t worry of these findings because they trusted the thick case of the sucking tube, about 7mm. However, Thong was not lucky this time due to an unexpectedly bigger ordnance was sucked in.
It is the very Ben Hai River that divided Vietnam into north and south for more than 20 years following the Geneva Accords in 1954. A section of 5 km from both sides of the river was marked as demilitarized zone, which was heavily bombed during the war time. There is no doubt that this area is considered one of the most contaminated area with UXO, apparently countless number of ordnance remaining covered by sand or water.
To deal with this type of contamination, no one dares to be optimistic about it.