Experts from the Cambodia Mine Action Center (CMAC) have collected and safely disposed of 43 units of unexploded ordnance (UXO) from an excavation site near Sa’ang Phnom pagoda in Peam Sala village of Sa’ang commune in Kandal province’s Sa’ang district after a work crew excavating the land there discovered them and reported to CMAC on March 27.

Ouch Oun, head of CMAC’s mobile demining team, said on March 28 the UXOs included 14 105mm artillery shells, 13 81mm mortar shells, eight 106mm recoilless projectiles and eight AN-M41 cluster munitions.

“All of these UXOs are vulnerable to exploding when struck with a hard object and the workers were extremely lucky that they did not go off when digging into the land with their excavator,” he said.

The UXOs – which were likely buried during the war between the Khmer Rouge and Marshall Lon Nol – were safely removed and placed in a warehouse where they will be destroyed in the near future.

Separately, villagers in Srah Chik commune of Phnom Srok district in Banteay Meanchey province found nine UXOs – all of them grenades and mortar shells – and reported them to the commune police on March 26. The police then handed the UXOs over to the demining operator Halo Trust for disposal.