Vietnam War-era artillery shell explodes, injuring 4 workers near former American airstrip

Vietnam War-era shell explodes, injuring 4

HANOI, Vietnam — Officials say a Vietnam War-era artillery shell has exploded at a coffee plantation. Four men were injured, three seriously.

Vo Cong Khanh, chief of Huong Tan village in central Quang Tri province, says the explosion occurred Sunday when a man working with a hoe hit the shell while weeding the plantation. The area is near the former Ta Con airstrip, part of a U.S. Marine outpost during the war.

Khanh said Wednesday the three seriously injured men were hospitalized.

Unexploded ordnance and mines have killed more than 42,000 people and wounded some 62,000 since the Vietnam War ended in 1975.