Hanoi: A police officer says four people were killed when a Vietnam War-era artillery shell they were cutting for scrap metal exploded.
A couple, their 8-year-old daughter and a neighbor died immediately following the incident Monday in the central province of Phu Yen.
Police officer So Minh Hai says the couple's 3-year-old son was also seriously injured.
The explosion occurred in the Son Hoa district, a communist stronghold that saw fierce fighting during the war.
Unexploded ordnance left over from the war has killed more than 42,000 people and wounded some 62,000 since the conflict ended in 1975, according to government figures.
