Meet the female squad who clear out Vietnam's unexploded bombs

QUANG TRI: Two petite women in protective gear walk slowly down an empty field in Vietnam, carrying a large metal detector that clicks and whirrs, searching for unexploded ordnance.

Captain Nguyen Thi Thuy of all-female landmines clearance team marks detected zones on a map of Hai Lang district, near a former US military base used during Vietnam War, in Quang Tri province, Vietnam March 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters
Captain Nguyen Thi Thuy of all-female landmines clearance team marks detected zones on a map of Hai Lang district, near a former US military base used during Vietnam War, in Quang Tri province, Vietnam March 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters
Members of all-female landmines clearance team listen to their captain before their morning work at a bombs and landmines exhibition in Quang Tri province, Vietnam March 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters
Members of all-female landmines clearance team listen to their captain before their morning work at a bombs and landmines exhibition in Quang Tri province, Vietnam March 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters
Members of all-female landmines clearance team get ready for their work on a field in Quang Tri province, Vietnam March 4, 2020. Picture taken March 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters
Members of all-female landmines clearance team get ready for their work on a field in Quang Tri province, Vietnam March 4, 2020. Picture taken March 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters

Medic and safety officer Nguyen Thi Ha Lan supervises her teammates, the "landmine girls" as they are known, preparing to detonate a cluster bomb left behind from the war with the United States that ended in 1975.

It is one of many underneath the soil in Quang Tri province, north-central Vietnam.

Once the team is ready to detonate, Lan warns people to clear the area. A siren goes off and then an earthshattering boom.

Captain Nguyen Thi Thuy of all-female landmines clearance team marks detected zones on a map of Hai Lang district, near a former US military base used during Vietnam War, in Quang Tri province, Vietnam March 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters
Captain Nguyen Thi Thuy of all-female landmines clearance team marks detected zones on a map of Hai Lang district, near a former US military base used during Vietnam War, in Quang Tri province, Vietnam March 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters
Members of all-female landmines clearance team listen to their captain before their morning work at a bombs and landmines exhibition in Quang Tri province, Vietnam March 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters
Members of all-female landmines clearance team listen to their captain before their morning work at a bombs and landmines exhibition in Quang Tri province, Vietnam March 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters
Members of all-female landmines clearance team get ready for their work on a field in Quang Tri province, Vietnam March 4, 2020. Picture taken March 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters
Members of all-female landmines clearance team get ready for their work on a field in Quang Tri province, Vietnam March 4, 2020. Picture taken March 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters

Lan also appreciates the camaraderie that the landmine girls share, working in such dangerous conditions.

There are still many explosives to be cleared. In August 2018, more than 1,400 items were found in an underground cache. But Quang Tri had no accidents last year. The plan is to clear the province of unexploded ordnance by 2025.