Những xác bom còn lại ở Lào (2016)

Millions of unexploded US bombs still litter the Laotian countryside -- a legacy of the Vietnam War. They have injured or killed nearly 50,000 people, yet clearing all of the deadly devices is expected to take decades more.

The lush, green landscapes of Laos can appear peaceful but the scars of war are never far away.

In Xieng Khouang province, in northeast Laos, the remnants of war are part of daily life. Empty bomb shells are refashioned as construction materials or garden planters.

Attempting to cut North Vietnamese supply lines and disperse communist rebels, the US dropped more than 2 million tons of explosives on Laos during the Vietnam War.

It's believed up to 30 percent of the bombs failed to detonate. Known as unexploded ordnance, or UXO, they're scattered over one third of the country's land.

Disposal teams from a government-affiliated agency called UXO-Lao have been working to clear them for 20 years. Over 700 team members work daily to clear fields. In one, they found over 20 UXOs.

Disarming the devices takes time and care. Workers manually plant dynamite and wire-up detonators.

"What we’ve managed to destroy so far is probably just over 2 percent of what was supposedly dropped on our soil. There's still a lot more to be done as we continue trying to eliminate them," says Wanthong Khamdala, deputy national program director at UXO-LAO.

Even now, 4 decades after the war, UXOs kill or maim dozens of people every year.

Khoua Lor was severely injured when he was 12. The blast ripped open his stomach and left other scars. His cousin, who had been playing with the bomb, was killed.

"My scars still hurt, especially when it rains," he says. "I feel sad because of the war that left so many bombs in my country."

One bomb-disposal official says the province is littered with cluster bombs. They're the size of an orange and contain hundreds of steel balls that are designed to fragment when they explode. Locals call them "bombies."

"It’s vital that the government speed up the clearance. But it’s very hard," says Kingphet Phimmavong, the Xieng Khouang provincial coordinator at UXO-LAO. "We mostly rely on financial support from foreign countries. What our own government can contribute is limited."

A new project is underway, funded by Japan. It involves a bombie-crushing machine was developed by a Japanese industrial-machinery maker.

It chews up unexploded bombies, cutting out the need to defuse them manually. The manufacturer expects it could be twice as fast as UXO clearance, reducing the cost.

"This machine can take UXO safely and quickly, and speed up the clearance process. We do hope this new project will succeed," says Atsushi Nagira, an official with the demining and reconstruction project at Komatsu.

Operating the machine requires extensive training. A Japanese NGO with more than 10 years' experience in Laos is helping do that. The group was founded by retired mine disposal experts from the Japan Self-Defense Forces.

"We would like to do our best to clear the contaminated areas so that people in Laos can live peacefully and safely," says Makoto Saijo, a technical adviser at Japan Mine Action Service.

It's thought that making Laos UXO-free will take more than a century. The new effort is a small step toward that goal.

Nguồn: NHK / Patchaya Thanaudom