A rain-soaked November afternoon in Gio Linh District, Quang Tri saw the latest unexploded ordnance (UXO) accident in a province that suffers more than 50 such accidents a year.
Two young girls were moving their families’ cows to a new grazing area in their Trung Giang Village, when one of them saw an object half buried on the muddy road.
Recognising it as an unexploded cluster munition, and realising that it was dangerous and might explode if one of the cattle was to kick it on their way past, one of the girls leaned down to pick it up and move it to the side of the road, out of the way.
As she removed it from the damp earth, it detonated in her hand badly injuring her and her friend. Hoang Thi Thien, lost the fingers and thumb of her left hand and suffered fragmentation injuries to her right eye, chest, abdomen and legs. Ho Thi Nhuy, suffered fragmentation injuries to her abdomen and one of her hands. Both girls were 14 years old.
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| Looking forward to a safer and more prosperous future |
Although the injuries were severe, they weren’t fatal, as the girls were taken to the hospital in nearby Dong Ha town and treated quickly. Earlier in 2007 an extension to the hospital facilities was opened on land that had previously been cleared by MAG.
“We so grateful for the work carried out by MAG,” said Thuong Van Duyen, a 45-year-old doctor who works in the new extension. “We get many UXO accident victims brought to the hospital, almost one a week, and the new building means that there are now 200 more beds. This benefits a great many people and will improve the health of communities living in the province.”
Working over several weeks in 2005, MAG teams removed a mixture of mortar rounds, rocket propelled grenades, artillery shells and one landmine, from the grounds of the new facility before building work could safely begin.
The legacy of a war that ended almost 40 years ago still has a huge impact on villages and rural communities trying to live their lives in the provinces of Quang Tri and Quang Binh.
The remnants of the conflict pose a daily threat to the safety and even lives of people going about their daily business, while the knowledge and suspicion that areas might be dangerous severely hinders both social and economic growth, by blocking potential areas for development and agriculture.
MAG’s use of Community Liaison, data collection, technical expertise and highly mobile teams is helping the country to move on from the legacy of the past and look forward to a safer and more prosperous future.
Other sections:
» Introduction» 40th anniversary
» Thousands of bombs
» The luck of the gods
» Deadly trade
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