A couple has been killed and their two children are wounded after a Vietnam War-era shell exploded in central highland Vietnam.
The accident occurred on Monday morning in Dak Cam Commune of Kon Tum city when the 46-year-old father was trying to open a shell, commune chairwoman Vo Thi Ly told dpa.
The father was immediately killed and his wife died on the way to hospital, she said, adding that the blast injured their nine-year-old son and their 15-year-old daughter.
The blast was caused by a US shell left over from the Vietnam War, she added.
The victims' neighbour said the man collected the shell on his farm and brought it home to defuse it.
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Old bombs are prized for both the scrap metal and their explosives, which are repurposed for clearing land for farming and illegal "dynamite" fishing.
According to the United Nations, 104,000 Vietnamese have been killed by bombs, land mines and artillery shells since the end of Vietnam War in 1975.
Bombs currently kill around 1500 people every year, according to the Vietnamese government.
