Dong Ha, Quang Tri (October 20, 2014)
An ordnance explosion last Friday morning critically injured a 17-year-old boy, Tran Van Hoan, in Hoan Cat Village, Cam Nghia Commune of Cam Lo District.
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According to the victim’s uncle, Tran Dinh Quyet, the boy and his mother had returned from collecting cassava when they stopped to visit their relative, Ms. Dang Thi Don. The explosion occurred in front of Ms. Don’s house.
“Hearing the blast, I rushed to see Hoan lying on the ground bleeding. I saw his bike against the wall and two bricks nearby, one of which was broken,” Quyet said. “I think he was trying to fix his bicycle’s chain.”
There is no indication of how the explosion occurred or what type of device caused it.
The blast cut off Hoan’s left hand, ripped his head from the forehead to the nose. The boy also suffered injuries to his left shoulder and nose and lips.
Three days after the accident, Hoan is still in a coma and under special monitoring at Quang Tri
Hospital’s Emergency Room where he’s on a mechanical ventilator. Photo: Hoang Tao, VnExpress.
Doctors say he is still in a coma and they are unsure if he will recover. A piece of shrapnel inside his head has not been taken out yet because of his extremely weak condition.
According to Cao Xuan Chung, Secretary of Hoan Cat Village’s Youth Union, Hoan hasn’t completed middle school yet. He has a lisp, and his family lives in disadvantaged conditions which caused him to drop out of school. Both he and his older sister are disabled and both of them have to work to earn modest income to help their mother.
Cam Lo District’s Police are now working with village authorities to investigate the cause of this accident.
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Project RENEW
Restoring the Environment and Neutralizing the Effects of the War
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Project RENEW Coordination Office
Kids First Village, 185 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Dong Ha City, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam
053 3858 445 tel / 053 3858 442 fax
projectrenewvietnam@gmail.com / www.landmines.org.vn
Ngo Xuan Hien, Communications & Development Manager, 0915 352 565 mobile
Email: ngoxuanhien@gmail.com
