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Ti recovering in hospital after becoming another victim of a bombie. |
The upcoming ban on cluster munitions, which will enter into force on 1 August, has not lessened the need for unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance to continue.
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Santi (or Ti) is an 11-year-old boy from Nathong village in Xieng Khouang province. He survived a serious UXO accident in June.
“One day, a few weeks ago, my father asked me to go to block off the stream that brings water into our paddy field," he explains.
Xieng Khouang province |
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View Xieng Khouang province in a larger map |
"After I finished that, I went back to digging our vegetable plot. I tried to remove a small bush by pulling it out, but that didn’t work.
"So then I used my spade to dig it out. Suddenly I heard an explosion and at the same time I fell down unconscious."
As his family had no vehicle, it took more than two hours to get Santi to the provincial hospital in Phonsavanh. He had struck a cluster bomb submunition, known locally as a bombie. When it exploded, metal fragments similar to ball bearings were sent tearing into his right arm, stomach and legs. Most of his teeth were knocked out by the blast.
Daily UXO accidents in Lao PDR
Dr. Somsavay, the head of the hospital, says that his staff alone deal with an average of two UXO casualties every week. According to the country's National Regulatory Authority, in the whole of Lao PDR there were around 300 UXO casualties a year for most of the last decade.
Santi is amongst the 60 per cent or so of accident victims who survive, but his injuries are extremely serious.
"Santi only has a small chance of keeping his arm, but we will do our best," said Dr. Somsavay.
Watch an interview with Ti below.
Reporting by Linthong Syphavong, Communications Coordinator, MAG Lao PDR
MAG thanks the following donors to its Lao PDR operations: AusAID; UK Department for International Development (DFID) / UKaid; European Commission; Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State; World Vision.
What are cluster bombs?
Cluster bombs, or cluster munitions, are weapons which can be dropped from the air or fired from the ground. They release numerous explosive fragments – bomblets, submunitions or, as they're known locally in Lao PDR, bombies.
Bomblets which fail to explode on impact pose the threat of death or injury long after conflict is over. Their presence means a lack of access to safe land, limiting agricultural development, the reconstruction of vital infrastructure, and the work of relief and development agencies.
Above, a 'BLU 63' cluster submunition close to houses in Lao PDR.
More on cluster bombs:
- MAG welcomes ratification of Cluster Bomb Ban Treaty
- PHOTO GALLERY: Worldwide scourge of cluster bombs
- Cluster munitions in Vietnam and Lao PDR: new era, old problem
- LEBANON: 'Every metre of safe land is income I can regain'
Victoria Wood visits MAG in Lao PDR
Writer and comedian Victoria Wood visited Lao PDR to see for herself the problems the country faces with UXO and the work MAG carries out to remove this legacy of the Vietnam War, nearly 40 years ago. Her trip featured in a BBC appeal, Lifeline (below), in which she spoke to Ti in hospital (four minutes into the video).
See also:
- Lao PDR: The problem / How MAG is helping
- The unexploded ordnance problem in Lao PDR: statistics
- Visit MAG's information centres in Lao PDR
- US Air Force bombing date in Google Earth (more info [external site])
- National Regulatory Authority for UXO/Mine Action [external site]
27 July 2010
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