6 die in Vietnam while sawing leftover mortar shell

HANOI, Vietnam – Six people including four children in a family have been killed when a Vietnam War-era mortar shell they were sawing for scrap metal exploded.

State-run Tuoi Tre newspaper says the victims died on the spot following the explosion in south-central province of Khanh Hoa on Friday.

The blast also seriously injured the father of one of the victims. The report says the family had collected the mortar shell from a coffee plantation.

Police in Khanh Hoa province were not available for comment Saturday.

According to government figures, more than 40,000 people have been killed and some 60,000 others were injured by unexploded ordnance since the end of the war in 1975.