Two killed in Vietnam shell blast

Two people were killed in southern Vietnam when a Vietnam War-era artillery shell exploded as they were trying to extract its explosives, police said.

Duong Van Thuan and Nguyen Van Sinh, both 34-year-old farmers, were killed instantly in the explosion, said Pham Van Phu, police chief of Phuoc Tan village, 68 miles east of Ho Chi Minh City.

The two farmers unearthed the 105mm artillery shell in the nearby jungle, a former stronghold of communist soldiers which came under heavy artillery attack during the Vietnam War, he said.