VIENTIANE, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Unexploded ordnance (UXO)-related accidents killed seven people and injured 43 others during the first six months of 2024, with most of the accidents occurring while children were playing with these devices or farmers were diggingdaisyslots.
From January to June, over 33,500 UXO devices have been cleared from 2,543 hectares of land, according to a report issued on Wednesday by the Lao National Regulatory Authority for the UXO/Mine Action Sector.
A total of 1,425 explosive ordnance risk education sessions were organized in 472 villages, with 153,663 people attending. Twenty UXO-related accidents were reported, involving 43 victims.
In addition, assistance was provided to 1,832 victims of UXO-related accidents.
Laos is the most heavily bombed country in the world in terms of per capita. Throughout 1964-1973, over 2 million tons of ordnance were dropped on Laos, of which 30 percent failed to explode.
Over 270 million cluster munitions were dropped from U.S. warplanes, leaving an estimated 80 million live bomblets scattered and buried around the Southeast Asian country.■