'Dragon's teeth' leave a lethal legacy in Laos

Smaller than your hand and formed with two distinctive wings, it's easy to see why these palm-sized plastic objects are so appealing to curious children, but 'Dragon's Tooth' BLU-43 mines will detonate with just the gentlest of pressures. What on the surface may appear an interesting childhood discovery, in modern post conflict countries, has all too often proved a fatal attraction.

In Laos PDR, where MineTech EOD teams are working to clear unexploded ordnance for the Nam Theu 2 Hydroelectric Project, 'Dragon's Tooth' and other similar sub munitions present one of the most common challenges. Aerially dispersed, they were originally dropped in canisters that opened at altitude to scatter the bomblets, sometimes containing as many as 600 munitions at a time.

During the Vietnam conflict, Laos was heavily bombarded and thirty years on, extensive and substantial amounts of unexploded ordnance still cover large areas of the country. MineTech teams now working in the Khammouane and Bolikhamxay Provinces are unearthing a wide variety of explosive ordnance materials, which, despite their age, remain extremely dangerous particularly the many varieties of cluster munitions encountered. Although many may be faulty after years in the ground, they contain enough explosive and fragments to kill or disable several people. Each one needs care and respect.

Max Dyck is Operations Manager of the MineTech EOD clearance team in Laos. Because of the sheer density of munitions, Max believes education in mine awareness will be absolutely essential to ensure the safety of the project construction teams. He explains. "Staff must be taught to react appropriately if they find a suspect item, most importantly they mustn't disturb it. It's crucial that the potential danger area is marked to identify it to others and the threat reported to a supervisor as soon as possible."

In contrast to the small cluster munitions, the MineTech teams have also dealt with devices right at the other end of the scale including several 500lb Mark 82 general-purpose bombs containing 87kg of explosive and designed to detonate on impact - although this particular one clearly didn't.

Many items have been so degraded by the elements it is difficult even for the experts to identify them, since most rockets, mortars and other projectiles resemble a basic standard shape.

A $1.2 billion, 1070 megawatt, private sector hydro-electric project, the Nam Theu 2 project is being undertaken as a joint venture between Nishimatsu Construction Company Ltd and Ital-Thai development PLC. When complete it has the potential to become a significant revenue earner for Laos PDR, which, despite a decade of strong growth, remains one of poorest countries in the world. Revenue from the Hydroelectric Project should provide much needed resource for investment in education, health and infrastructure.

MineTech teams are currently conducting Mine Risk Education and surface and underwater EOD clearance activities across the construction site which stretches from the Nakai Plateau to the lower Xe Bang Fai river confluence with the Mekong, in the Khammouane and Bolikhamxay provinces in central Laos, about 250 km east of Vientiane.