The discovery was made at a school park in Kratie province on the Mekong River, and it took three days for explosives experts to examine the dangerous findings. Among the 2,000 explosives that did not detonate were 1,000 M79 grenades, according to mine expert Heng Ratana.
The school has been temporarily closed for teaching.
Cambodia is one of the countries worst affected by unexploded mines, explosives and munitions that are still lethal and other remnants of war material from the severe civil fighting that began in the 1960s.
The discovery was made when the school was expanding its schoolyard.
— It is unimaginable luck for the students. These explosive objects explode right. It’s enough to dig in the ground and hit one of them, continues Heng Ratana from the Cambodia Mining Center.
The school grounds were used as a military base during the war, and additional munitions are believed to be in the ground.
Wars, attacks and civil strife alternated in Cambodia until 1975, when the totalitarian and ruthless Khmer Rouge took power, a rule that lasted until 1979.
The USA’s extensive military attacks and bombing raids in parallel with the war in Vietnam have resulted in large quantities of lethally dangerous war material still being buried in Cambodia.
About 20,000 Cambodians are estimated to have died due to injuries from mines or explosives detonated after the war. Cambodia’s government hopes to complete demining in the country by 2025.