Unexploded ordnance a lethal problem in Vietnam

Over a third of the land in six central Vietnamese provinces is lethally contaminated with unexploded bombs and land mines left over from the Vietnam War, a study released Friday said.

A demining team worker search for landmines in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Tri in 2006. Over a third of the land in six central Vietnamese provinces is lethally contaminated with unexploded bombs and land mines left over from the Vietnam War, a study has said.

The report by Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) and Vietnam's Ministry of Defence, found that 10,529 people have been killed and over 12,000 wounded in the six provinces since the war ended in 1975.

They interviewed over 33,000 people over a period of almost five years for the study and mapped the areas contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXOs). They also carried out some decontamination.

"The survey represents an important first step towards developing a national strategy to address UXO contamination in Vietnam," United States Ambassador Michael Michalak said in the text of a speech prepared for the report's launch.

The survey, which cost almost two million dollars and was funded by the US State Department, identified 3,260 contaminated areas covering 1.6 million hectares (4.0 million acres).

The Ministry of Defence, however, estimates that 6.6 million hectares are contaminated throughout Vietnam, said VVAF country director Thao Nguyen.

Quang Tri, which includes the former Demilitarised Zone, was the worst hit province, with contamination of more than 80 percent, the report found.

It also studied Quang Ngai, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Nghe An and Thua Thien-Hue provinces.

Government support of UXO victims "has become an economic burden for the national economy," the report said, adding that unexploded bombs create fear among people who live in contaminated areas, impeding full participation in economic activity.

"Contamination hinders construction of housing, expansion of infrastructure, resettlement initiatives and other development activities," it said.

Vietnam's deputy defence minister wrote in June that cleaning up unexploded bombs will take hundreds of years.

At least three million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans died in the wa