The Cambodia Mine Action Center on Monday removed an unexploded 250-pound bomb, likely dropped by the U.S. Air Force in support of the military government of Lon Nol in the 1970s, from a construction site in Kandal province, police said.
“We found it about three meters deep when an excavator driver was digging the earth to build a factory in that location on Friday,” Ksach Kandal district police chief Men Sokhoeun said.
“During removal this morning our police officers did not dare to stand close [to the bomb],” the police chief said, adding it was still capable of detonating.
Kruos village, Sanlong commune, where the bomb was discovered, was once a fiercely fought over frontline between Lon Nol government troops and fighters with Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge, Major Sokhoeun said.
This was the largest bomb of its size ever discovered in the area, he said.
