War-era artillery shell kills six

War-era artillery shell kills six

HANOI (AP): An artillery shell from the Vietnam War killed six people and injured three others in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, local press reports said yesterday.

The incident took place last week when farmer Nguyen Van Kieu, 40, threw into a fire the 105mm shell he collected late last year while dredging a canal near his house.

The explosion instantly killed Kieu and five construction workers who helped build his new house and injured three others, the Nhan Dan newspaper said.

Explosions related to war-time ordnance are reported almost weekly in southern Vietnam, which remains littered with land mines and unexploded shells from the war that ended 23 years ago. Many local villagers collect scrap iron to make ends meet.