January 10, 1998
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By Sompadith Phonunavohane and Shawn Kefly
SEVEN children were killed instantly, and one remains in serious condition at a Vientiane hospital, from what has been described by aid workers as one of the worst UXO accidents in Laos in recent memory.
The tragedy occurred in Xieng Khouang province on Saturday, January 10am Ban Namsai, Kham district, about 50 km northeast of the provincial capital Phonsavanh.
At about 11:00 am that fateful morning, the deadly explosion shook the village to its very foundations, and in the process, devastated a local family as all of the young victims were related to each other.
A visibly distraught Ms Phut Syphouane, who lost three of her children in the blast, explained that the three other boys were her brother's children and the remaining boy was the child of her cousin.
The dead ranged in age from four years old to eleven, while the sole survivor, a child of Mrs Phut named Poui, is three years old and remains in the care of the Friendship Hospital, Vientiane. According to Mrs Phut, it was a nice Saturday morning and the children did not go to school that day. They were all in a playful mood.
"The accident happened in front of my brother's house while I was looking for food at a pond near the village. I heard the frightening sound of the explosion but I didn't think it had anything to do with my children. At the time was still looking for fish in the pond when a man came to the pond and told me the accident had involved my kids. I immediately ran back to my house to check on my children, and it was then that my neighbours told me the horrific news that my children were in the accident and most had died," a shaken Ms Phut said.
From initial reports it is believed that the children found the bomb
while looking for wood in an adjacent forest. They brought the bomb into the
village, and it's thought that they were in the process of trying to take
the bomb apart--when things went horribly wrong.
Data gathered the day after the explosion points to the bomb being either a bombie or a grenade: possibly an American M67 grenade, but this has yet to be confirmed. According to Mr John Humphreys, Programme Director for the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), either of these types of bombs could have easily killed these children.
"The bombie, which is so prevalent in this country, is a fragmentation device that is designed to kill up to a range of 100 metres. Hand grenades are also extremely deadly bombs and are very capable of exacting this kind of damage," he said.
MAG has been actively clearing unexploded ordnance in Xieng Khouang since 1994, and according to Mr Humphreys, this accident easily rates as the most deadly during that period.
"Every year in Laos there are approximately 100-100 UXO fatalities in Laos, so for seven children to die at one time is particularly tragic," he said Mr Humphreys also explained that in January, 1997, MAG visited Namsai village on an unexploded ordnance data gathering mission. From this study, it was found that during the twenty-year period from 1973 to 1993, there had been only two non-fatal UXO incidents. Also, there had only been three reports of bombie sightings during those years. On the basis of this information of the known quantity of UXO, MAG concluded that the village was not a high priority area for its community awareness and the land clearance progammes.
This fact was confirmed by Mrs. Phut who said that neither the village, nor any of her children had received any education or information regarding the dangers of UXO.
Mrs Phut's young three year-old boy Poui, who survived the accident, remains in extreme pain as he awaits an operation to remove three pieces of shrapnel from the base of his spine, doctors said.
One of the boy's ears was ripped off by the force of the explosion and doctors have yet to determine if his hearing has been permanently impaired. In addition, he has many tiny puncture wounds from pieces of shrapnel that blew through his skin.
Dr Sengphet Vanvolay, of the Friendship Hospital said on Friday that doctors will meet and consult regarding the next operation planned for the boy. This operation has been delayed because doctors want to be sure of the boy's strength before proceeding further.
On the day of the tragedy, Mrs. Phut walked many kilometres, her son on her back, before finding a ride to the provincial hospital at Phonsavanh. They stayed there for three days until they were able to fly to Vientiane for treatment on January 14.
The devastated mother has trouble believing that this nightmare is real and that her three young children are indeed gone. She seemed utterly defeated when she said: "I think one day there be another deadly explosion like this in my village because there are still a lot of bombs to be found. We evil and now my worst fears have been realised."
The Secret War in Laos
From 1964 to 1973, the US military, disguised as civilians, dropped 1.9 million metric tons on Laoos, equalling 10 tons per sq km, or over 1/2 ton for every man, woman, and child in Laos. During 580,944 sorties, the secret air force dropped an average of one planeload of bombs every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, for nine years.!
As late as November 1998, a foreign UXO expert in Xepon expressed his frustration that certain large bombs could not be exploded because they were in inhabitated areas, and they could not be defused because, so far, the US has refused to give the technical expertise to diffuse these bombs. These bombs sit there in villages, with the potential of explosion. The villagers know about them and stay away from them. Outsiders are not told of their whereabouts to prevent curiosity seekers from coming.
The 'rules of engagement' ("Romeos")
were not followed as they were in
Vietnam, and so temples and historical
areas such as the Plain of Jars were
not spared bombing.
Links
- A Deadly Harvest - the Mennonite page on the unexploded bombs in Laos
- UXO in Laos
- Study trip: The Vietnam War in Laos 10/5/98-Nov/5/98
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"Unlocking a Secret War" - Christopher Ogden. Article from TIME Magazine October 9, 1995 Volume 146, No. 15
"Mere chance introduced me to Laos in 1965." - Laos and Cambodia - large Bibliography
- The Secret Wars Of The
CIA - John Stockwell, 10 October 1987
John Stockwell is the highest-ranking CIA official ever to leave the agency and go public. He ran a CIA intelligence-gathering post in Vietnam, was the task-force commander of the CIA's secret war in Angola in 1975 and 1976, and was awarded the Medal of Merit before he resigned. Stockwell's book In Search of Enemies, published by W.W. Norton 1978, is an international best-seller. This is a transcript of a lecture he gave in June, 1986.
The Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos (formerly known as:)
The accident rate in Laos is not so high as in landmine affected countries such as Cambodia, Afghanistan and Angola. A study in Cambodia showed 5.4 % of mine accidents resulted in death. This is mainly due to the type of mines, mainly small blast mines.
So far in 1997 in Xieng Khouang Province there have been 33 UXO accident victims resulting in 7 fatalities of which 3 were children.
Ordinance
So far MAG have found and destroyed over 100 different kinds of ordinance from at least six different countries (USA, Russia, Vietnam, Chinese, French and British). Approximately 75% of all ordnance found by MAG have been of US origin.
Many air deployed sub-munitions commonly called "bomblets," become de-facto anti -personnel mines when deployed in such a manner that they do not explode on impact. This is achieved either deliberately by delayed, anti -disturbance or influence type fuses.
They also fall into the category of landmines when they remain as genuine unexploded ordnance i.e. they failed to function as designed, but remain a threat for years.
In 1968 and 1969 approximately 230,000 tons of bombs were dropped on Northern Laos alone. Taking an average ordnance failure rate of 10% (in some cases it could be as high as 30%) there remains between 20,000 - 30,000, and in some cases it could be as high as 70,000 tons of unexploded bombs in Laos.
In 1964 United States strike aircraft started bombing in northern Laos in support of RLAF and non communist troops and interdict of communist supplies. The Air War in Northern Laos was known as Barrel Roll and ended in 1973.
Bomblet Live Unit (BLU) 26
285 million BLU 26's were procured by the US Defense Department. It is reasonable to think that almost all of them were dropped in SE Asia.
Typically 30% of ordnance in SE Asia was used on Laos, suggesting over 85 million BLU 26 bomblets were dropped in this theatre. A conservative estimated failure rate of 10% equates to over 8.5 million BLU 26 bomblets remain buried or lying on top of the soil. The lethal range of a BLU 26 is 150 metres.
Although this is the most common bomblet found by the MAG teams so far, it is still only one out of over 12 types of bomblets found. Many of the munitions used during the Gulf war were first used in the Vietnam war.
MAG started in 1994 as the first NGO in Laos to deal directly with the problem of UXO clearance and Community awareness along with data gathering to study and quantify the impact of contamination. Initial funding was from Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).
MAG was in the forefront in increasing international awareness of the existence and extent of the UXO problem. Few people knew about the secret air war and ground battles fought in Laos.
This led to the establishment of a Trust Fund in late 1995 with assistance and support from UNDP and UNICEF. This was to mobilise, channel international funding and co-ordinate humanitarian responses to the UXO problem. Following on from that, UXO LAO was founded as a national public institution with autonomous financial status within the Ministry of Labour & Social Welfare. It is responsible for the management of UXO related activities within the country.
The first contingent of US army trainers arrived in June 96 under a bilateral agreement between the US and Laos to provide training and capacity building. No US military personnel are involved in any live clearance of ordnance in Laos.
MAG recruited 30 personnel from Xieng Khouang and they were the first technicians to be trained at the UXO LAO training centre in Vientiane in July 96. In addition MAG provided experienced Laotian supervisors to assist the US team during the training. Prior to the formation of UXO LAO, MAG trained all its own staff.
MAG Operations
There are four elements to the MAG operations in Laos
- Data Gathering (DG)
- Community Awareness (CA)
- Roving Team (RT)
- Clearance Teams (CT)
The DG teams collect quantitative information about UXO and accidents from the village. This information is then used to prioritise the villages for the CA programme.
Community Awareness
The CA teams spend up to a week in the village. This involves discussions with at risk groups, school visits, video shows and puppet shows. During the week a map is produced of the village showing the location of reported ordnance. A senior technician accompanies the team to be on hand for ordnance recognition and to answer any technical queries.
Roving Teams
The RT follow the CA teams into villages and systematically destroy all reported ordnance. The RT uses the map produced by the CA teams. The destruction of the surface ordnance can take between a few days to several weeks, depending on the contamination.
Clearance Teams
The CT carry out detector sub-surface search on sites identified by the Province as being of a high priority.
So far the majority of sites have been:
Mines Advisory Group UK
54a Main Street
Cumbria CA13 9LU
United Kingdom
Tel: Int + 44 (0) 1900 828580
Mines Advisory Group Laos 208 Ban Sibounhuang P.O. Box 4660 Vientiane Tel/Fax: 856 21 217621 Tel: 856 21 222983 email: mineslao@loxinfo.co.th
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Summary of Ordnance Destroyed
to Date
Bomblets 23456 Mines 16 Large Bombs >l00lb 34 Other Ordnance 22945 102 Different pieces of ordnance found...Total 46451 Bomblets BLU 3/B BLU 7 BLU 17/B BLU 24 BLU 26 BLU 45/B BLU 49/B BLU 61 BLU 63 Rockeye Mkl 18 BLU 42 Butterfly bomb (M83) Dragonstooth (BLU 43)...Total 23466 Mortars Mortar 50mm HE Mortar 2 inch HE Mortar 2 inch SMK Mortar 60mm WP Mortar 60mm HE Mortar 60mm ILLUM Mortar 8lmm HE Mortar 81mm WP Mortar 81mm ILLUM Mortar 82mm HE Mortar 82mm WP Mortar 82mm ILLUM Mortar l2Omm HE Mortar 4.2 inch HE Mortar 4.2 inch WP...Total 4760 |
Ammunition
Rd 0.5"/12.7 rds complete Shell 20mm Shell 23mm Shell 30 mm Shell 37mm Shell 57mm HE Shell 57mm SMK Shell 57mm Canister Shell 75mm HE Shell 75mm WP Shell 76mm APC-T Shell 76mm HE Shell 85mm HE Shell 85mm SMK Shell 100mm HE Shell l00mm WP Shell l00mni AP Shell 105mm HE Shell l05mm SMK WP Shell l05mm ILLUM Shell 120mm HE Shell 120mm WP Shell 122mm HE Shell 122mm WP Shell 130mm HE Shell 130mm WP Shell l55mm HE Shell 155mm SMK WP...Total 13030 Mines
Mine A/P M14 Mine A/P M16 Mine A/T Type 4 China Mine PMN A/P Mine A/T TM57 Mine A/P Min Mine A/P POMZ Mine A/T H7 Vietnam...Total 16 |
Large Bombs
Bomb 100 lb Chem. WP Bomb 250 lb Bomb 500 lb Bomb 750 lb Bomb 2000 lb...Total 34 Miscellaneous
Sensor Bomb Incendiary 4 lb. Bomb Incendiary 10 lb Bomb Frag 20 lb BK-881 82mm FFAR2.75 HE FFAR2.75 WP FFAR 2.75 HEAT Flare ILLUM Aircratt Fuzes Grenade hand Chinese Stick Grenade hand Fl Grenade Hand M26 Grenade Hand M33/67 Grenade Hand RG42 Grenade Hand Smoke Grenade Hand Viet Improve. Grenade Rifle 40mm M118 Grenade Rifle Smoke Igniter-napalm Primary cartridge Rkt 599 HE Air to Grnd Rkt 5" WP Air to Grnd Rocket 3 inch Rocket 3.5 inch HE Rocket 3.5 inch WP Rocket 60mm (French) Rocket 66mm LAW Rocket BM15 Katusha RPG-misc. RPG2 RPG7 RPG motor...Total 5155 |
November 17, 1995
U.S., canadian governments, others join MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) in campaign to clear cluster Bombs from Laos
MCC efforts bring attention to tragic aftermath of a "secret war"
WASHINGTON -- In many places people think of four-part harmony, horse and buggies or pacifism when they hear the word "Mennonite." These days in Washington, D.C., and New York City, many people are likely to associate Mennonites with the "Laos bombie project."
In my work with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Washington Office, I've been amazed at how many in Congress, the Pentagon and State Department say, "Oh yes, we've heard about MCC and the cluster bombs in Laos." Two or three years ago, most North Americans -- except Vietnam War veterans -- couldn't have found the country of Laos on a map. MCC is bringing a great deal of visibility to the hidden aftermath of the "secret war" in Laos waged more than 25 years ago.
When MCC decided two years ago to launch a cluster bomblet clearance project, the agency knew the long-term task was much too big for MCC alone. It was necessary to attract the interest of many others -- including the U.S. military who dropped the bombs. The nine years of bombing cost the United States at least $10 billion. It will cost several million dollars per year to systematically clear large areas of land.
In March 1995 U.S. Ambassador Victor Thomseth traveled to the MCC project site from Laos' capital, Vientiane, along with other diplomats to learn about the extent of the problem. The delegation was organized by the Lao office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Visitors were so astonished at the magnitude of the problem and impressed with the work being done that a UNDP Trust Fund was formally established to solicit funds from governments to fund bomb clearance work.
In August 1995 a U.S. military assessment team spent 10 days in Laos -- including several days with the MCC project – to consider how the U.S. government could contribute to clearance. Since then the United States has committed itself to setting up training schools in Laos that will focus on both bomb clearance and community safety awareness. The U.S. ambassador and embassy staff have become deeply committed to making bomb clearance a top priority. The United States has also increased its level of funds for trauma care in Xieng Khouang Province, the bomb-infested northeastern province where MCC is working, to improve the medical care for severe injuries. Hopefully fewer bomb victims will die or lose limbs as a result.
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