11 January 2008
Soldiers discovered bombs and mines on 9.5ha of land surrounding the My Son Sanctuary, a World Cultural Heritage site in Duy Xuyen district, Quang Nam province, which are a danger to locals and tourists alike.
Soldiers unearthed several different kinds of bombs and mines in this area, including fragmentation grenades, mortars, mines, and various primers.
UNESCO Vietnam on January 8 organized a training course on detecting and destroying bombs and mines in My Son, with the participation of many experts and UNESCO representatives in Southeast Asia.
Quang Nam authorities reported that since 1980, bombs and mines killed 23 and injured 34 people who live near My Son Sanctuary.
My Son Sanctuary is a Hindu temple complex, 69km southwest of Da Nang City. It is comprised of many Champa temples in a valley roughly 2km wide surrounded by two mountain ranges. It was the site of religious ceremonies of kings of the Champa dynasty, and was also a burial place of Champa royals and national heroes. The My Son temple complex is one of the foremost Hindu temple complexes in South East Asia.
In 1999, UNESCO recognized My Son as a world heritage site, at its 23rd meeting, under the criteria C (II) for displaying the evolution and change in culture, and criteria C (III) as a foremost evidence of an Asian civilization which is now extinct.
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