A 227-kilogram US-made Mk 82 bomb was unearthed on Wednesday as authorities were digging a pond in Kandal’s Kien Svay district.

The bomb was dug out by Cambodian Mine Action Centre officials in Tanub village, in Kampong Svay commune, yesterday morning.

Pa Sam Eth, Kien Svay district police chief, said this was the first time in a while villagers discovered a bomb of this size. “But a few years ago, people found two Mk 82s and some cluster bombs. These bombs are made in the USA,” he said.

Sam Eth said it was sent to the CMAC training centre in Kampong Chhnang province to be destroyed.

According to estimates, the US dropped more than 2.7 million tonnes of ordnance – including Mk 82s – on Cambodia between 1965 and 1973. However, head of CMAC Heng Ratana said even more may have been dropped, and added that CMAC recently found other bombs, including chemical bombs containing teargas, in Svay Rieng province.

Meanwhile, a deputy village chief was killed yesterday in Oddar Meanchey province by unexploded ordnance while scavenging for mushrooms and other edibles in a border area near the Dangrek Mountains with two other villagers.Konkriel Commune Police Chief Pak Kim said victim Seng Sroeun, 53, of Dorng Tung village, stepped on a landmine and died at the hospital.

Additional reporting by Phak Seangly