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Three men die trying to saw through Vietnam war-era shell



March 23, 2009 02:32pm

THREE Vietnamese men were killed while trying to saw through a war-era shell to salvage metal and explosives, police said.

The men, between 19 and 44 years old, were trying to break open a 105mm shell when the blast happened in southern Tay Ninh province on Friday, local policeman Nguyen Minh Kha said.

"The men wanted to sell the metal for money. They could not escape the sudden blast,'' he said.

According to earlier figures from the Public Security Ministry, more than 38,000 Vietnamese nationals have been killed and 100,000 injured by explosives left over from the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975.