A couple who scavenged for old munitions to sell as scrap metal were killed when a Vietnam War-era artillery shell they were sawing exploded, police said Thursday.
The man and his wife, both 55, were killed instantly in the explosion Tuesday in Xuan Truong village in the northeastern province of Dong Nai, said village police chief Pham Van Chinh.
The couple's 13-year-old daughter, who was nearby, was seriously wounded and remained in critical condition at a hospital, he said.
Chinh said the couple was cutting up a 105-milimeter artillery shell to sell as scrap metal when it exploded.
Authorities destroyed another 10 unexploded artillery shells they found in the couple's house, Chinh said.
A week earlier, the man who was killed had been sawing another artillery shell when it exploded, but no casualties were reported, the police chief said. After that, he had promised local authorities that he would no longer cut up unexploded ordnance.
Unexploded ordnance from the Vietnam War has killed about 38,000 people since the conflict ended in 1975.
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