Vietnam War-era artillery shell explodes in southern Vietnam, killing man and injuring wife

Vietnam War-era shell explodes, killing villager

HANOI, Vietnam — A Vietnam War-era artillery shell exploded and killed a villager in southern Vietnam as he was cutting it up for scrap metal.

Long Duc village chief Truong Hoang Hai in the southern province of Soc Trang said the man was killed in the explosion Monday that also seriously wounded his wife. The man was in his early 40s.

The village chief said Long Duc was a communist stronghold heavily bombarded and hit by artillery by American and Saigon government forces during the war.

Vietnamese government figures show unexploded ordnance has killed more than 42,000 people and wounded some 62,000 since the conflict ended in 1975.