Tag: UXO

Categories
News Blog

NEWS ROUNDUP March 2014

March2014News

March 31, 2014
Two Cambodians killed by mines

A 12-year-old boy and a 37-year-old farmer lost their lives over the weekend in UXO explosions in Battambang and Pailin provinces.
Read more at The Phnom Penh Post.

 

March 18, 2014
USAF EOD blows up beach bomb

Airmen from 1st Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron explosive ordnance disposal destroyed an unexploded ordnance near the beach, which a jogger discovered at Perdido Key, Fla., March 12, 2014. Get the lowdown from Hurlburt AFB.

March 18, 2014
Cambodian construction workers find US bomb

Clearance workers removed an American MK82 bomb from a construction site in Kandal province. Records show UXO has killed three children in Cambodia so far in 2014. More from the Phnom Penh Post.

March 17, 2014
Vietnam calls for int’l help in clearing wartime UXO

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked international sponsors to join Vietnam’s efforts to rid the country of unexploded ordnance (UXO) that still kills and injures thousands of people every year.
The PM was speaking at an international conference organized by Committee 504, a national agency tasked with clearing UXO, in Hanoi on Friday. Read more here.

March 15, 2014
Germany funds UXO clearance in Thua Thien-Hue, Vietnam

The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs will support the central province of Thua Thien-Hue with EUR257,911 (US$359,940) to implement a project to clear unexploded ordnance (UXOs) in A Luoi district.
In 2014, apart from clearing bombs and mines left over from wars in the district, the project will develop information management tools, build a bomb and mine database, and implement the Information Management System for Mine Action in the province. More here.

March 15, 2014
UXOs kill 1,500 Vietnamese every year

Accidents caused by unexploded ordnance (UXOs) left over in Vietnam during the wartime have killed more than 42,000 people and injured about 62,000 others in Vietnam since 1975, according to preliminary statistics.
This means UXO-related accidents kill 1,500 people and injure 2,300 others per year. Read the rest at Tuoi Tre News.

March 13 2014
Work Begins on UXO Clearance at GE Site in UK

Work has commenced as part of unexploded ordnance clearance work, off Charleton Road, Montrose by GE Oil and Gas. The currently undeveloped grassland forms part of a former Royal Air Force Airfield (RAF Montrose).
A specialist clearance contractor, BACTEC, under the oversight of our environmental consultants, MWH, has been working on site from the week commencing Monday, February 24, for an estimated 6 weeks. A little more to read here.

March 12, 2014
One mine explosion occurred in Azerbaijan in February

The news was announced by the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) on March 11.
ANAMA said about 912,897 square meters of land were inspected and cleared of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Azerbaijan in February; about 408 UXOs and 11 anti-tank mines were found in the country as a result of the operations. See more at Azernews.

March 11, 2014
UXO Discovered in Ft. Meade, Maryland

Utility workers discovered an Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) in a Fort Meade housing area Tuesday afternoon during scheduled maintenance work.
An UXO team responded to the call and determined the device was a World War II-era mortar training round and that it was inactive. A bit more to read at WUSA.

March 11, 2014
1,912,897 sq m area cleared of mines and unexploded ordinances in Azerbaijan

1,912,897 sq m area was inspected and cleared of mines and unexploded ordinances (UXO) by Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) in February, 2014, Press service of the Agency told APA.
408 UXOs and 11 antitank mines were found and disarmed. 1 Mine/UXO accident was recorded last month. Read more at APA.

Categories
News Blog

NEWS ROUNDUP February 2014

Feb2014News

2/27/2014
Little help for UXO victims in Laos

Around 25 percent of villages in Laos are contaminated by unexploded ordnance (UXOs), mainly from US bombing missions between 1964 and 1973, according to the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme, and while UXO casualties have fallen sharply in recent years there is little support for UXO victims, whose injuries can drastically affect their families. IRIN has the story.

2/24/2014
RWE Calls in Bomb Squad

Three pieces of unexploded ordnance have been discovered at the construction site of RWE’s 576MW Gwynt y Mor offshore wind farm off Wales.
The developer is preparing to remove the objects, referred to as UXO, from the seabed in Liverpool Bay and construction work is continuing. More at RENews.

2/24/2014
Disarmco Turns to Crowdfunding After Risk-Averse Investors Reject Life-Saving Technology.

With more than 120m landmines stored and deployed in places of conflict and post-conflict around the world and 20,000 victims of landmines every year, a British company is set to tackle the problem head on with its pyrotechnic torch technology after raising funds on equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube.
Formed in 2012, Disarmco, raised almost £150,000 against its original £120,000 target and attracted 126 investors, turned to crowdfunding after its earlier efforts to attract investors through more traditional means failed. Read more Here.

2/21/2014
Unexploded ordnance found, disposed of in San Pedro Conservation area

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found two pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) during the closure of two sites within the San Pedro National Conservation area. According to a BLM release the areas had been closed since November 2013 for an investigation and study, the sites were formerly used by the U.S. military and located outside Ft. Huachuca. Via TucsonNewsNow.com

2/20/2014
Have You Ever Dropped A Glass On The Floor And It Did Not Break?

Two-and-a-half years after the fall of the Gaddafi regime, Libya continues to suffer from a wide proliferation of explosive items and small arms that threaten civilians.
Amongst those most at risk of coming into contact with landmines, arms and ammunition left behind after fighting are curious children, people wanting to protect themselves, and scrap collectors looking to make a living. Thompson-Reuters has More.

2/13/2014
Landmine, Unexploded Ordnance Deaths Drop by Half in 2013

Deaths from landmines and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) dropped by nearly half from 43 in 2012 to 22 last year, according to the government’s latest casualty figures, the largest drop in recent years.
Total casualties also dropped 40 percent over the same period, from 186 in 2012 to 111 last year, according to the last monthly casualty report for 2013 from the Cambodian Mine Action Authority. Read more at The Cambodia Daily.

2/12/2014
U.S. to Increase UXO Support for Laos

The U.S. government will increase assistance to Laos’ unexploded ordnance (UXO) sector, local press reported Wednesday.
How much of an increase is still being considered but there will be no decrease of support for Laos’ work in surveying, clearing, assisting victims and raising awareness of UXO, U.S. ambassador to Laos Daniel Clune was quoted by state-run daily Vientiane Times as saying. Read more at Chihan.com.

 

2/2/2014
Unexploded munitions a threat in Sudan’s Darfur

From aircraft bombs to cluster munitions and grenades, the Ordnance Disposal Office of the international peacekeeping force in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur has found and destroyed them all. Read the full story from The Times of India here.

 

Categories
News Blog

NEWS ROUNDUP January 2014

Jan2014News

01/30/14
MAG clears land for Vietnamese pepper farmers

MAG and Roots of Peace collaborate on a sustainable agriculture project that helps impoverished farmers in Quang Tri province grow pepper as a commercial crop. Read the full story from Reuters here.

01/26/14
Hand grenade kills 6 kids in Pakistan

Six children of displaced families from a tribal region of northwestern Pakistan, near the Afghan border, were killed when they found a hand grenade while playing in a field. Read more in the Washington Post.

 

01/21/14
US Clearance Funding to Laos Reaches All-Time High

The recent spending bill passed by Congress includes $12 million earmarked for bomb clearance, victim assistance and education, according to Legacies of War. Read more here.

 

01/17/14
UXO Found on Solomon Islands

Thirty-two unexploded bombs have been found in the past two months in clearance operations at west Guadalcanal. Via Threat Resolution Limited. Read more here.

 

01/15/14
UXO Blast Kills 3 Lao Teens

Several school boys in Bolikhamxay province were playing near an irrigation ditch when an explosion killed one at the scene. Two others died in the hospital, and three others were injured. Via the Vientiane Times. Read more here.

 

01/09/14
Clearance Workers Destroy Ordnance in Azerbaijan

465 items of UXO and 4 antitank mines were found and destroyed during December clearance operations in Azerbaijan, according to the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action. Via APA. Read more here.

Storms Uncover World War II shells in Brittany

Clearance teams destroyed roughly 100 German shells found on a popular beach, where weather frequently exposes UXO. Via Threat Resolution Limited. For more news on World War II UXO and clearance, read more here.

 

 

 

Categories
News Blog

NEWS ROUNDUP December 2013

Dec2013News

12/13/13

Kids Mistake Cluster Munition for Petanque Ball 

As reposted on the Legacies of War Facebook Page: Two children were killed in Saravanne Province on December 13. “Local authorities said that the explosion occurred when the boys used a device they found in the forest as a boule in a game of petanque.” Link to original article here.

 12/03/13
Canada Committee Passes Amended Cluster Munition Bill

After much debate, Canada’s Commons foreign affairs committee removed one word from the bill to ratify the country’s participation in a ban on cluster munitions, according to iPolitics. The contested bill would allow Canadian forces to help allies in using cluster munitions while on joint operations with countries that haven’t signed the ban – notably the United States. Read more here.

12/03/13
Cluster Bomb Ban Saves Thousands of Lives, Coalition Says

Five years ago today, the Convention on Cluster Munitions was signed in Oslo, setting the path toward a global ban on “bombies.” More than half the world’s countries have since joined (the United States has not). The ban prohibits the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of these weapons, which pose some of the greatest threats to post-war societies where they were used. There are many varieties of cluster bombs. One of the most common designs used in Laos was a large casing filled with hundreds of baseball-sized bombies. The casing opened in mid-air and the bombies scattered across the land. Millions remain in the soil today. They look like toys or rocks. They can blow when struck with a farmer’s hoe. A single bombie can kill anything within 30 meters. For more information on what’s happened since the Convention was signed, read today’s report from the Cluster Munition Coalition.

 

 

 

Categories
News Blog

Laos Can Be a Dangerous Tourist Destination – Terry Ambrose

By Terry Ambrose
Nov. 15, 2013
Terry Ambrose Mysteries with Character

EH book coverIt has been 40 years since the U.S. military dropped the last bomb on Laos, yet the effects of unexploded ordnance (UXO) are being felt today. Jerry Redfern is an award-winning photojournalist who moved to Cambodia with his wife, Karen Coates, in 1998. Both are senior fellows at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University. It was an anniversary trip that later kindled a passion in the two about this little-known legacy of war, and encouraged a renewed commitment to redressing historical injustices and building positive peace.

Redfern said, “I thought it would be cool to go to the Plain of Jars. We were living in Cambodia and were there and heard about the bombs. We decided to take an  anniversary trip to the Plain of Jars.” READ MORE.

Categories
News Blog

From the Book – Meeting Bich, 10, UXO Accident Survivor

Bich in the Hospital
Bich in the Hospital
Bich in the hospital, for the second time

UXO accidents have killed and injured more than 20,000 Laotians since the end of war in 1975. This is an excerpt from the book Eternal Harvest. 

————-

We meet a young boy named Bich in the Phonsavanh hospital. Part of his face is blasted off, and his arm is fractured.

“He went to plow the field and he hit something. We don’t know what,” his mother, Man, tells us in tears. “I heard the explosion and some people came to get me.”

She knew about UXO, about the dangers in the dirt, but what can her family do? They have to grow food. She has seven children to feed. “I worry about the others. It’s very difficult because we cannot see the UXO,” she says.

Bombs hide in the earth that people tread and dig and plant and reap every year. Some weeks, a nurse tells us, the hospital gets two or three UXO victims; other weeks, it gets none. Most victims who come to the hospital survive. But many never make it that far. They die at home or in the field or forest where the accident occurs.

Bich’s story is hardly unusual, but it is not widely known in the country that likely made the bomb that hurt him. To this day, Laotians continue to die while playing in their yards, plowing their fields, tending their cattle. As villagers clear new land for planting, buried bombs explode. When farmers light their fields afire, shrapnel sometimes rains upon nearby roofs. At times, Laos still sounds like a country at war. This story has an even bleaker side.

As the global price of metal creeps upward, villagers gamble their lives on the chance to unearth valuable scrap. This is a country in which most people earn just a few dollars a day. And most people farm. But in some parts of Laos, the earth holds a profitable crop, sown long ago in war. While some dig with hopes of making money, others dig with hopes of securing safer land. Every day, bomb disposal teams scour the terrain, staking rows of string to the ground and slowly walking the grid with metal detectors. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth—it’s a meticulous job that can take days, even weeks, to cover an acre.

At any given time, twelve companies and humanitarian organizations have teams in the field, scattered across the country, looking for bombs. When a technician gets a signal, the spot is marked and later investigated by hand. Someone has to dig down and backward, slowly inching toward the source of the signal without making any sudden, harsh moves that could jolt a piece of ordnance and cause it to explode. Most signals end with a rusty nail or a twisted piece of bomb casing. But sometimes the team unearths a bomb, still armed, still ready to blow.

It could take decades, even centuries, to clear all the munitions. That is life. That is history—of the United States, of Laos, of the never-ending war between the two.

Categories
News Blog

NEWS ROUNDUP November 2013

Nov2013News11/27/13
Canada Debates Controversial Cluster Munition Bill Clause

This week, heated debate is taking place in Canada over a controversial clause in proposed legislation to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Canada was one of the first countries to sign the international ban in 2008, but it has yet to ratify the Convention, which prohibits the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions. Debate centers on Section 11 of Bill C-6, which could allow the Canadian military to use or direct the use of cluster munitions in joint operations with countries that have not signed the Convention. More info from the CBC here.

 

11/20/13
Weapons Cache Found in Cambodia

“A cache of 130 AK-47 rifles, ammunition and two unexploded rockets have been found by a group of children in the Oral mountain range, Kampong Chhnang police officials said yesterday… The rifles were buried in a shallow hole and police are guarding the area while provincial police and the Cambodian Mine Action Centre decide how to proceed, he said. There are fears there may be unexploded mines in the area.” – Via the Phnom Penh Post

 

11/11/13
American Musician Keith Kenny Performs Benefit Concert in Laos

New Jersey native singer, songwriter and guitarist Keith Kenny was chosen to headline the “We Are Kind” benefit concert to raise money for UXO accident victims in Vientiane. Catch the video with Lao UXO accident survivors break dancing to Kenny’s song, “Limit is the Sky.” More on Kenny and his US Big Red Suitcase Tour here.

 

 

 

Categories
News Blog

Q&A with author Karen Coates and photographer Jerry Redfern – Haunting Legacy

By Deborah Kalb
Oct. 5, 2013
Haunting Legacy

REDCOATES ParisWriter Karen Coates and her husband, photographer Jerry Redfern, have collaborated on the forthcoming book Eternal Harvest: The Legacy of American Bombs in Laos. Their other work together includes the book This Way More Better: Stories and Photos from Asia’s Back Roads. They are based in New Mexico and travel frequently to Asia. Many of their projects have focused on the issues of food and the environment.

Q: How did the two of you end up working on Eternal Harvest?

A: This grew out of a story on the archaeological work around the Plain of Jars that we did in 2005 for Archaeology Magazine. We had traveled to Laos before and knew the general history of the bombings, but it wasn’t until that reporting trip that we saw first-hand just how devastating the effects remain today. READ MORE

Categories
News Blog

NEWS ROUNDUP October 2013

October201310/11/13
Ambassador Who Oversaw Bombing Dies

From the New York Times: “William H. Sullivan, a career diplomat who spent much of the 1960s and 1970s in volatile parts of the world — notably Laos, where he oversaw a secret bombing campaign, and Iran, where he was the last United States ambassador before militants took embassy employees hostage in November 1979 — died on Oct. 11 in Washington. He was 90.” See the full story here.

 

 

 

Categories
News Blog

NEWS ROUNDUP September 2013

September2013

9/28/13
UXO Accident

“On September 28, 2013, in Sepon District of Savannakhet, a 55-year old man was working in the field and started a fire to keep warm when a blast went off. The fire had unearthed a UXO, which exploded causing injury to his body and tore off his right wrist. He was initially treated at his village and was transferred to a provincial hospital, where he continues to receive medical care and follow up services.” – Via Legacies of War.