Hanoi authorities have removed an air-to-surface missile with intact fuse left over from the American War from a river in the local outlying district of Thach That.

The missile removed from Tich River

According to the Thach That District’s Military Steering Board, the missile was detected in the Tich River by a person in Can Kiem Commune.

After that the district’s Military Steering Board zoned-off the area where the object was located and then reported this to the Hanoi Special High Command for the settlement.  

The issue continued to be reported to the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army which instructed some specialist military units to remove the missile on December 6. The missile was covered by a thin steel frame and then towed by a crane.

The missile dated back to 1972 during the American War. It weighs around 600 kilos and is 4.2 metres long.

It was quite hard and time-consuming to remove the missile which was covered by decades of mud.

Regarding the wonder why the missile with the intact fuse has been safe for being left in the river for years, a representative from Thach That District’s Military Steering Board explained that its explosion mechanism uses an electrical system; however, the system had stopped working. 

The missile was taken to an army area in Bac Giang Province and was defused on the morning of December 7.

dtinews