Disposal teams have burned 1.6 tonnes of the 16 tonnes of unexploded ordnance (UXOs) that were retrieved from a warship sunk in the Mekong River in Kampong Cham province during the civil war period of the early 1970s. The remaining ordnance will be neutralised and preserved for museum displays.
Mey Sophea, head of the UXO Clearance Unit of the National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance (NPMEC-ERW), said on April 6 that the specialist team only burned the old and decayed or rusty ammunition, since it would soon deteriorate anyways. Items burned included artillery rounds, mortar shells and bullets among other varieties.